


Westward Bound

by stingingscorpion



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: 80s Music, AKA the year is 2230, Alternate Timelines, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Established Relationship, F/F, F/M, Family Drama, Fluff, HIstory nerd Waverly, Haught's Radio TM, I mean how can you not, M/M, My fav, Secret Marriage, Swearing, Treasure Hunters AU, Wyn has a different kind of curse, WynHaught brotp, and Jeremy and Dolls, and yet none wiser, disabled Nicole, hella WayHaught, hella world building, in SPACE BABY, includes PRANKS, it's like One-Eighty but not as cool, like a jazz trio!, obv, ranting fabulously about back problems, the gang is also a tad older
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-03
Updated: 2020-06-19
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:53:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 74,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22545097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stingingscorpion/pseuds/stingingscorpion
Summary: Wynonna Earp’s time is running out. She needs to retrieve her birthright, her family’s long lost treasure of Wyatt Earp II. After thirteen years away, she returns home to recruit her sister and her childhood best friend. Get the treasure, to erase her debts. To keep trouble from finding Waverly. To keep Nicole from drowning in a mountain of medical bills. And maybe find out just why the two seem so suspiciously close. All the while avoiding Bobo Del Rey, the highest in the galaxy’s Most Wanted ranks.A Wynonna Earp treasure hunters AU set in the far future.
Relationships: Jeremy Chetri/Robin Jett, Waverly Earp/Nicole Haught, Xavier Dolls/Wynonna Earp
Comments: 83
Kudos: 269





	1. The Lure of Adventure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy folks, it’s been a minute. Setting up this story was a wee bit of a pain in the ass. But here we have it! A treasure hunters au! In friggin’ space, baby!
> 
> This story draws inspiration from multiple sources. The concept of the Earp family line being thieves and having a family vault is drawn from an old kids game from the 2000s, Sly Cooper. I drew other concepts from Uncharted, such as the Earp sisters’ plot line (compare to the Drake brothers). And Wynonna’s journey here will be similar to Arthur Morgan in Red Dead Redemption 2. (Prepare to hurt.) Most of all, this story will beta some concepts I’m using for an original story. Hence the futuristic space travel feel.
> 
> I hope to make this one a decent length, not too long. Just enough to resurrect Historical Waverly once more…
> 
> This story will also explore some personal feelings on spinal-related restrictions. Injuries that mess you up for a while, sort of thing. What can I say, I do love to project.
> 
> Anyway, that’s enough babble from me. Hope y’all enjoy.
> 
> I'm dedicating this story to my family on Discord. Y'all dorks know who you are. Love you very much.

Magus, The Outer Dust.

Galaxy 219.

3:46 a.m. Earth EST

“Damn, this is stupid.”

She grumbled and whined under her breath, though the winds pushing and shoving her all about ate so much sound it wouldn’t matter if she screamed. This planet was abandoned for a reason.

“I should leave.”

Blindly following some woman who’d pay a high price for someone like her, someone with certain _skills. Attributes._ Was it worth it? Trudging in a massive storm on an abandoned planet with a strange woman, looking for a rock, of all things in the universe—was that worth it?

She sighed, “It’s a paying job.”

Just once, it’d be nice to buy food and not steal it. Less effort. Less pissed off people. Less of an _Aladdin_ style chase through town.

The walk was an undying misery, no different from the weather. But a job was a job, and she could do with some money. 

Hours passed until they stumbled across it, a closed-off cave with glowing purple symbols. Straight out of a movie.

As the job-giver celebrated, she sighed, “Let’s get this over with.”

She stepped closer to the door where the woman was waving her hands in a specific pattern. Specifically, it looked stupid.

She sighed again, after a minute or so of nonsense. “Constance, can we hurry this up?”

The woman waved her off. More rain dance movements. 

Until finally, the stone door before them opened, to reveal a cave. More purple inside. Constance was shoving her in. It was officially the hired help’s turn.

She pressed the automatic return function for her ship. Just in case. Creepy glowing cave and all. Glowing purple walls and magic rocks on an abandoned planet, and all. 

“Don’t let anything happen to it, Wynonna,” Constance said. “I need it for my son.”

Wynonna Earp shrugged. “I’ll bring the stupid rock back to you. But the more shit I shoot in here, the more you owe me.”

Would it be wrong to shoot for no reason, just to up the pay?

It was a blissfully silent cave, as far as caves went. Could meditate in the damn thing. Safe from the weather. Quiet. Suspicious. Creepy. Wynonna kept her gun at the ready.

Constance’s request, sitting in the back of the cave. Silent. Quiet. Creepy. If this were Indiana Jones, she would’ve swapped it with the ol’ sandbag. But she was Wynonna Earp, and danger never scared her anyway.

If it did, her life would be a lot less chaotic and more nine-to-five office job type. She wouldn’t mind the steady paycheck, though.

There was no reaction when she recovered the glowing rock from its pedestal. No ancient creatures, no zombies. No puff of blinding dust. No conveniently-timed entrance of a villain after the same treasure. 

Wynonna inspected it. There was no way this thing was the real deal.

Oh, but it _was_ real.

And it was worth a lot more than 300 Galactic Points. She knew a guy. With the right story . . .

Wynonna returned to her ship. Constance hopping around like a little rabbit, ready to see her stupid rock.

“We make it back first,” Wynonna negotiated. “A star port is nearby. You pay me, you get the rock, I refuel and get the hell out of 219. Deal?”

Constance was not pleased, but she was just desperate enough to agree. Making Wynonna prove her find first, of course. Exercise caution, when working with members of the Galaxy’s Most Wanted.

If she was smart, she wouldn’t have let Wynonna touch the thing at all.

The moment Constance climbed the ladder into the airborne craft, Wynonna physically kicked her back to the ground below. The rock clutched safely in her hands, safe on the ship.

Understandably, Constance was furious. Swore more than Wynonna knew were swear words in the galaxy.

“Come on, lady,” Wynonna called, “we both knew this thing is worth way more than 300.”

“Then I’ll double it! Give it to me, you thug!” Baring her desperate teeth below. 

Wynonna made to return to her seat. “Flattery will get you nowhere. But thanks for dinner!”

“Wynonna Earp, you are a thief and a scoundrel!”

Wynonna Earp beginning to prep her ship for return to orbit. “Yep, that’s what the wanted posters say.”

In the time it took to prep the ship, Constance chanted a prayer of some kind. Wynonna, watching curiously, as the woman declared, “You will rue your selfishness. You will feel your black heart rot. You will breathe broken air, for as long as no one continues to love you. For as long as no one loves you, you will suffer until you cannot suffer longer.”

Unfazed, Wynonna rolled her eyes. “Lot of weirdos in the galaxy.”

-

Space Port 38.

Galaxy 111.

7:01 p.m. Earth EST.

The Magic Purple Rock sold for 1500 Galactic Points. Wynonna booked herself a nice hotel. Booked herself a nice dinner.

From the pawn shop to the restaurant, she began to feel ill. Light-headed. She thought of Const—

No. She was just hungry right now. Hadn’t eaten in days. It was nothing. Just hungry.

A strange anxiety kept Wynonna up that night. She could not shake it, no matter how she tried.

-

3 MONTHS LATER.

Purgatory, Earth.

Galaxy 1.

6:00 p.m. Earth MST.

Waverly could only look at so many low grades before she felt the need to rip all her hair out and scream at the whiteboard staring at her. She gave her students _detailed_ study guides. Let them use their notes. Multiple choice with obvious wrong options. She did everything but give them the answers!

“God bless you, Tim McBlake.”

The one and only perfect score. The one and only kid who actually paid attention. Waverly gave him extra points just for her gratitude.

When she imagined teaching a bunch of high schoolers history, she knew there would be the few troublemakers. The ones who never showed up to class. The ones who couldn’t seem to get off their phone or stop talking. The ones who just didn’t care. The ones who were basically her sister in high school and her sister’s terrible but also somehow wonderful friend. She knew there would be a few. A _few._ Not the whole damn class.

The bigger cities that weren’t tiny towns like Purgatory typically used virtual reality schools. Sent students on mandatory field trips once a week to get them out of the house. Grades were higher. Kids felt less pressured. Bullying definitely went down. But Purgatory wasn’t a big city. It wasn’t as technologically advanced. It had old school classrooms from way back in the day. Non-electronic whiteboards. Overloaded teachers who gave up years ago. Students who’d rather be anywhere else, doing anything else. It was miserable. It was a _purgatory._

But, it was home.

And this was the very classroom she learned how much she loved history. Damn shame none of these kids seemed to share the same passion. It was here she also realized she loved—

There was a knocking at the door. Waverly could’ve sworn she was the only one left in the entire building. Even the janitor was at home. He locked up already. He told her several times he was locking up. _Don’t wait up for me, Bill, I’m catching up on work!_

She thought nothing of it. Hearing things, maybe. Mind playing tricks on her. There were only so many disappointing things a person could grade before going mad.

Last week’s assignments done. Now on to—

Knocking. Three taps.

“Bill, I’ll lock up the doors myself! Go home!”

Maybe one of her failing students was trying to break in and beg for extra credit they weren’t going to do.

Knocking. Persistent. Five taps. Was there a possibility someone was out here, doing Morse code? Not in the mood for pranks. There was one person it could be.

Checked her phone. Not a single text from Nicole.

“I’m busy right now! Please come back tomorrow!”

The asshole knocked _seven times_ in a row.

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me—”

Waverly stormed over to the door. The window covered, not allowing her to see the knocking loon on the other side. She hoped it was a very rude bird and not a burglar of some sort.

“Look, buddy—”

Waverly stopped in her tracks. She swore her heart stopped, too.

“Wy—Wynonna?”

This had to be a dream.

There was no way in the world or in the entire span of explored galaxies Wynonna Earp was standing in front of her, after so long, _smiling._ Wynonna Earp, her beloved sister she hadn’t talked to in a little over a decade now. Precisely, _thirteen_ _years_ ago. The last time Waverly saw Wynonna, she had just barely turned thirteen. She was just barely a teenager. Now she’s a twenty-six-year-old with a grown-up job and a grown-up house. A lifetime had passed, practically.

Wynonna Earp and her thirteen-years-older smile, greeting Waverly in the warmest fashion possible. “Nice to see you, little sister.”

“What’re you doing here? How’d you even—Where have you—Come in, please, let’s talk!”

Obliging, Wynonna chuckled. “Take a breath there, kid, it’s just me.”

“I just can’t believe—You’ve been—You’re really here right now, that’s—It’s crazy!”

Wynonna took a moment to look around the classroom. The decorations Waverly put up. the way she organized the desks. The color of the markers on the whiteboard. Suddenly Waverly was extremely self-conscious about them all. Could she kick Wynonna out and redo the entire thing real quick?

It was a long moment before the conversation began again. It was a long moment before Waverly nervously sputtered out, “Do you like it?”

Her sister seemed to come back from somewhere, lost in thought. “Looks a lot better than the crappy shape Mr. Sanders kept it in.”

Waverly scoffed at the thought. “Well, the fact you and Nicole used to vandalize the place—”

Wynonna put up a finger of warning. “We weren’t vandals, Waverly, we were _artists.”_

Waverly laughed, perhaps too hard for her own liking. “Is that what they call it now?”

“That’s just cold, baby girl.”

She took a seat on the ground, behind Waverly’s desk. Motioned little sister over. Little sister eagerly joined, a perfect place for the two to observe the empty classroom. All work happily forgotten.

Suddenly, Wynonna began to laugh. “Haught and I messed this place up so good, they repainted the walls dark blue, huh?”

Waverly sat up. “Wait, is _that_ why my classroom’s the only blue one in this entire hall?”

Wynonna laughed harder.

“You two are terrible!”

Shrugging, Wynonna added, “I was told to make high school memorable. They never specified _how.”_

“That poor man retired so early . . .”

“So how long have you been working here, Waves? The way you skipped grades, you were probably right back in here a week after high school.”

“Two years. And there’s nothing wrong with graduating early, you know.”

“I wouldn’t know. I didn’t graduate at all.”

“It’s never too late.” Waverly smiled. Nudged her sister. “I could be your tutor.”

“Only if Haught is my classmate.”

“Nicole did makeup credits without you, I’m afraid.”

“What a nerd.”

Something seemed to shift in Wynonna, if only for a moment. Nostalgia.

“We had some great times back then. Well, great for us. Terrible for everyone else. Like the time we stole Officer Nedley’s cruiser.”

“Actually,” Waverly began to point out, and only now was it hitting Wynonna how much she’d missed, “Nedley is sheriff now.”

“Huh. Who’s his top deputy, Haught? I heard a rumor she joined the military. The anti-government anarchist I grew up with in high school joined the freakin’ military, of all things.” Wynonna made some sort of disapproving gagging sound.

“Well, you’ll be happy to know she’s a mechanic now. She inherited the entire shipyard from the previous owner—you probably used it when you landed here.”

“Cool. We can go for a joyride later. Maybe take it racing this weekend or something.”

Weekend. So Wynonna wasn’t just passing through. Was there a possibility she was thinking about staying? Was Wynonna Earp actually coming back home?

Was Waverly about to finally get her sister back?

Wynonna turned back to her. “So. What have I missed?”

It was two hours before the pair realized how much time had passed. It was not nearly enough.

The officer Wynonna used to prank was the town sheriff now. Gus and Curtis, two of the cheapest people Wynonna knew, owned shares of both Shorty’s and Nicole’s mechanic shop. Waverly dated that moron, “Champ” Hardy all throughout high school, miserably. She graduated two years early, top of her class. Valedictorian. Majored in history and aced that early, too. She knew everything about the old west and the technological boom of the late 1900s and 2000s. Knew a suspicious amount about their recent ancestors throughout the 2100s.

Wyatt Earp, who would make their family famous to begin with, for being some sort of hero all the way back in the old west. Wyatt Earp II, their more recent and self-named ancestor who made them famous for being all shades of douchebag across the Founded Galaxies.

The current year was 2230. The Earp family went from being the law to being the law’s worst enemy. Wanted posters, with Galactic Points in the thousands for arrest, dead or alive. Legendary heists. Petty heists on rivals.

A secret family vault Wyatt II left his treasures behind in. The vault he hid his treasures from the government in, and intended to pass down what he didn’t use in his lifetime to the next Earp in line.

The secret family vault Waverly and Wynonna lost their oldest sister and their father to. 

Ward Earp was a man without code. The Earps were scoundrels, yes, but they did not do away with innocents. They did not steal from those who had nothing. And most of all: they did not beat their wives.

Ward died trying to find the family vault, and he took Willa with him. It didn’t stop Waverly’s curiosity, though. It didn’t stop her from learning everything about her ancestor’s travels. It didn’t stop her from mapping these travels. It didn’t stop her from trying to find the damn thing herself.

Good thing she was too cowardly to make the journey herself; probably would’ve bit the big one years ago. (But what else was she to do with all this knowledge? Family trivia night?)

Thinking about the stupid treasure made Waverly a little suspicious. Wynonna’s bounty was awfully high. What were the chances . . .

“Not that I’m not happy to see you, but what brings you into town, Wynonna?” Waverly had to ask, before this got any further. Was Wynonna here because she was in trouble and needed an out, or was she here because she wanted to come back home?

“It’s time for me to retire, Waverly.”

A small laugh burst out of Waverly. “At thirty-two?”

“I have bigger things I’d like to do, and working’s not really working out for me. So it’s time to retire. I think you know where this is going, kid genius.”

Waverly felt her heart sink. “So you didn’t come back to see us. You came back for the treasure.”

Wynonna looked as if her sister slapped her across the face. “Of course I came back for you, Waverly. I’m staying here. Why do you think I want the treasure? It’s time for _us_ to settle down. We hunt down the stash and _boom_ —we’re set for the rest of our lives! Don’t you want that? Don’t you want something better than staying hours after work to grade papers for snotty kids who didn’t give a shit?”

“I happen to like my job, Wynonna.”

“You can do a lot more than a shitty small town high school, Waverly. Come on, you’re telling me you wouldn’t benefit from a little extra money?”

“Of course I would—”

“Then what’s the problem?”

Something inside of Waverly snapped. “It’s too risky! I’m not like you, Wynonna, I don’t want a record! I don’t want a poster! I just want an honest, normal, peaceful life where I don’t have to run from anything or anyone. Please don’t ask me to do this. If you’re in some sort of trouble, I’ll find another way to help you, but—”

“I’m not in trouble.” Wynonna tried, clearly, not to sound too angry or too disappointed. “But, fine, I get it. I won’t rope you into this, if you don’t want to do it. Not a big deal.”

The change in her tone indicated yes, it was a pretty big deal. Waverly felt her heart sink further. Wynonna just came back into town and already a fight was brewing between them. 

“I’m not going anywhere, though, alright? I’m staying. For real this time.”

Waverly wasn’t so sure why _she_ was disappointed about not going after the family treasure. It was too dangerous. It was too much, and she already had too much on her plate right now to begin with. But still. It was a lot of money. Enough to erase—

No. Not worth having the entire galaxy on her back. She was not made for a life on the run.

“Why don’t we get out of here?” Waverly asked. Desperately trying to think about anything else before she made a stupidly impulsive choice. “We can go to my house. I’ll make dinner while you and Nicole catch up?”

“Yeah. Sounds good.”

Wynonna tried to smile, but it was not full. Not as full as the moment she walked in here.

-

The shipyard was a wreck.

After hours repair number eleven was cooperating decently. Small, rectangular craft. Main computer just needed some rewiring.

Repairs were taking a lot longer than Nicole anticipated. Orders were stacking up. Customers were getting angrier and angrier. Staff never seemed to get things done on time. There were only so many hours she could afford to pay. Overtime simply wasn’t an option. But neither was letting business rot away. It was up to the owner to pull everything together again, after hours.

And the owner was very, very, very _tired._

On the bright side, no one could make fun of Nicole for listening to music centuries old. A little Dolly Parton never hurt anyone, did it?

Ran a final scan on the computer. All systems good. Pushed it back into the lot with the rest of tonight’s completed crafts in the company car. Pushed the next patient into the garage.

Centered perfectly over the lift, before raising the craft higher in the air than it needed to be. Busted engines were located in an undercarriage. Perfect access for Nicole and her increasingly stiffening back.

Craft number twelve was rebelling, as if it didn’t want to be repaired. As if it wanted to retire forever to an island made of pure gold, never having to make an ounce of effort for the rest of its life.

“We all want a solid gold island, you little shit,” Nicole mumbled. Ready to fling the wrench in her hand as far as it could fly.

The shop was one of two shipyards in Purgatory. Not that a lot of people would travel from a planet far, far away and come to Purgatory for a vacation. Still, it’d be nice to have some money to do things. Such as, say, hire more staff for her shop?

It was getting late. She should’ve carpooled home with Jeremy hours ago, but she insisted on staying. She should’ve been home, resting. 

Waverly was going to be furious.

Nicole dropped the wrench.

She stared at the stupid tool for a long few minutes before she declared it a cause lost and fished around for another. Two more nights of this, then they’d be caught up. Until the next rush completely obliterates the office again. 

The things she’d do to afford a day off. Just one damn day without work. Just _one_ miracle.

“Aren’t you gonna pick that up, Haught?”

Nicole spun around. That voice was all too familiar. That was a voice she hadn’t heard in years. Back when she was a dumb kid who made horrible decisions.

There was no mistake here. Wynonna Earp was here, in Purgatory, standing in the middle of her garage, smiling back at her, waving her dropped wrench in clear view. Just as Elton John sang, _I’m a bitch, I’m a bitch, oh the bitch is back . . ._

“I swear I did not time that,” Nicole defended.

Wynonna tossed the wrench over, Nicole catching it successfully despite her surprise. Wynonna adding, “I’m so cool I have a theme song when I enter the room. Don’t worry, you’ll get there one day, too.”

“I can’t believe you’re here right now.” Nicole smiled, and it grew larger and larger by the second. “Oh my god, Wynonna Earp is in _my_ garage.”

There was a brief hug before both women, childhood friends, retired to couches in the office waiting area inside. All they were missing was a couple cold beers.

“Nice place you got here, Haught,” Wynonna said, lounging back as far as possible in her seat. “Never imagined you would’ve ended up as a business owner. What would Teen Nicole say to the concept of paying taxes to the government?”

Nicole laughed. “She would explode. You wouldn't believe what I was doing before this, either, though.”

Wynonna leaned further back, if that was at all possible. “Do tell, Haught. I want to hear the whole story—from the second we got separated.”

“You mean from the day you left me to die?”

Wynonna shrugged, like it was nothing. “You didn’t, though. Come on, Bobo wouldn’t let one of his own die. Besides, the cops were on us way harder than Lou’s boys were.”

“Bobo versus Lou—Good times.”

“Sometimes I miss being in a space gang.”

Nicole laughed at the idea. Thirteen years ago, she was a wanted criminal. Now she’s a failing business owner with a debt so high it could be the world’s tallest mountain. “Okay, well, I got arrested that night, obviously, and they sent me right back to Purgatory. I spent time in prison before Nedley used his connections to get me out early.”

“Was it rough?”

Wynonna asked like she felt guilty. Guilty, for leaving Nicole behind. For running that night, instead of staying behind to help Nicole. The police were on their tails. They were in a wanted gang. She wasn’t risking it. But it didn’t mean leaving Nicole behind was right; Nicole would’ve saved her, if the roles were reversed. 

Nicole thought about it all the time. It took her years to see getting arrested was for the best. She couldn’t ride with Bobo’s people any longer. When she was younger, she was a completely different person; an immature kid, getting into trouble for the sake of getting into trouble. Riding with gangs. Beating down other, fellow thugs who got in her way. Wearing her wanted poster as a badge of honor. 

She wondered how Wynonna would have turned out if she was arrested that night, too. If she hadn’t run, and faced the music. Would she follow her family code of theft and dishonesty, or would she try the honest life her younger sister led?

“It was rough,” Nicole admitted, “but it saved my life. I’m glad it happened. It let me sort all my shit through. I don’t think I could’ve done that running around life any longer, you know?”

Wynonna was honest, “It really isn’t a career path I’d recommend.”

“Nedley let me move in with him after I was released. Get back on my feet. You know he’s always been a father to me, ever since I beat the living hell out of Chrissy’s abusive ex in high school. When I overheard the asshole screaming at her while I was smoking in my truck. The way he was yelling at her—I couldn’t just stand by.”

Wynonna smiled at the memory. “He invited your whole family over for dinner and realized how huge a pair of assholes your parents both were. He basically adopted you after that.”

Nicole smiled even wider than Wynonna. “He knew violence wasn’t the answer, but it was _Chrissy._ I was over there every Saturday night. He tried to steer me from trouble—”

“And I pulled you right back. What’re best friends for, huh?”

Nicole laughed.

“What next? Come on Haught, I want the whole story.”

She was growing suspicious. Why was Wynonna so curious? Why was she even here right now, asking all these questions?

“I’m on a cliffhanger here, Haught.”

Fine. Humor her, Nicole decided. “Curtis hooked me up with a job at the ranch and an apprenticeship here. Worked here for a few years until I decided—and you are not going to believe this—to join the military. The Orbital Defense Force.”

Nicole was dead serious. Her waiver was approved after she easily met the standards to prove herself. Ended up serving, the way she wanted.

So it really was true, then. Wynonna started _cackling._

And Nicole joined her, because the thought of Nicole Haught, ten years ago, joining the military—well, that was the funniest joke in the universe.

When the wheezing and eventual coughing settled, Wynonna motioned the story to go on. Obviously Nicole straightened up her brain and came back home, right? She worked here now, didn’t she?

“I did come home. Just not the way I wanted.” 

There was a clear of the throat, then a sigh. Brief pause, too. 

“I, um, I got hurt up there. Really bad. I ended up with heavy trauma to my lungs and paralyses in my legs. I invested in some of those off-market implants. Without them I can’t breathe on my own and I can’t walk. The only problem is they were extremely expensive. I’ll be paying them off from the grave, probably. Not like the shop is really raking in money right now.”

Maybe she could convince Nicole . . . “Why didn’t the government pay for them? What’s the matter, your insurance didn’t cover it?”

“Sort of. Nobody really deals with robotic implants. Not since all those malfunctions and recalls a few decades ago. I had to have them custom-made and we had to fly in one of the few people who actually knew how to install them surgically.”

“Maybe you _should_ return to the drifter life, Haught.”

Nicole chuckled. “Maybe. Wouldn’t hurt to get a second job, right?” She sighed again. “I’m just grateful for Waverly. We got so close when I moved back here. I don’t think I could afford to live on my own; I’d probably have to bunk here, in the office.”

A brow was raised. “Is that not what you’re doing now? It’s almost midnight, dude. Work a little less, before you keel over.”

Nicole shrugged, sadly. “I don’t really have a choice. Either these orders get completed on time with the small staff I can afford, or we lose customers. We already don’t have enough to begin with.”

“Haught, it feels like you’re suffocating, here.”

“It really does.”

Wynonna sat forward, re-energized. “What if I had a job for you? Would you take it? Would you—”

Nicole’s phone interrupted the pitch. Interrupted Wynonna’s second chance at her inheritance.

It was Waverly. Like she knew and she was trying to shoot Wynonna down again.

She wanted them back home for dinner. Late enough already. Wynonna decided to let it go, for now. Enjoy a nice dinner together, like the family they hadn’t been for a decade now, then she would pounce. Wynonna Earp and Nicole Haught, just like the good old days, after the Earp family treasure.

-

Not much had changed about Wynonna Earp. Same career choices. Same dirty rotten thief. Same take-no-shit attitude. Same tolerance and affinity for _whiskey._

By the end of dinner, she was out like a light. A light that’d fallen from the highest ceiling in the world and plunged into the deepest cavern.

Waverly couldn’t believe it. Her sister had been to every possible corner of the galaxy. Drifting, from place to place, never sticking around long enough to get bored. She was out there, in the stars, _living._ Not caring about a damn thing.

And Waverly was here, wasting away in a classroom, failing to get her students to engage.

Nicole went up there, too. Saw the stars up close. Slept right _under_ them. Got to—

Waverly stopped herself. She wasn’t doing this. She wasn’t dropping everything in her life to go play space rangers with her sister. This was simply work frustration. It would pass. 

So _why the hell_ did she pull Nicole onto the porch mere minutes later to discuss playing space rangers with her sister?

“So what do you think? About Wynonna?”

Nicole didn’t seem to answer in the way Waverly wanted. A simple, “It’s not a surprise she’s the same.” Didn’t cut it. Waverly was waiting for something else, but Nicole wasn’t really sure what.

“The Earp family treasure?”

Not a flinch from Nicole.

“She wants to go after it?”

A flinch, confused. 

“She didn’t tell you?”

Nicole shook her head. “Didn’t say a word. The only thing she asked about was what I’ve been up to.”

“That’s a novel in itself.”

“I’m an exciting woman,” Nicole smirked, but Waverly was not taken by it. Not the way she usually seemed to be.

“Nicole,” Waverly said, more serious now, urging Nicole to follow her direction, “she wants to go after the _treasure_.”

Nicole quirked a brow. “Wait, does she want you to go with her? Is that why she’s back in town? She didn’t come back to see you, she just wants to get some money?”

“I told her I’m not doing it.” Putting aside the reason Wynonna finally decided to return to town. “It’s too risky. You know Bobo’s been looking for it for years now. I don’t want to get caught in all of that!”

“The self-proclaimed brains behind Ward’s old heists . . .”

Waverly paused for a moment. “But on the other hand—”

Immediately, she was stopped. There wasn’t much to connect between a lot of money and the whole lot of money Nicole owed. “No. Waverly, no—”

“It’s a _lot_ , Nicole. You’ll never have to pull twelve hour shifts again. You’ll be able to hire more staff—”

“Waverly, no—”

“I’ll cover the supplies and the travel expenses—”

“I can tackle my own debts—”

“We can just sneak past Bobo—”

Nicole finally grabbed Waverly by the arms. Snapping her out of her planning. “Bobo is out there, killing his own men trying to find this damn thing. We cannot do this. It’s not safe, Waverly.”

She seemed to calm enough at the thought. Quieter, she added, “But it’s _crushing_ you, Nicole.”

“I’ll be even more crushed if anything happened to you.” Smiling, in that way Waverly could fall in love with over and over again. “It’ll be okay.”

“You risk your life getting shot at by the government and they can’t find it in them to help out.”

Nicole fell into a laughter. “Careful, you’re starting to sound like Teen Nicole, there.”

Waverly perked up. “I’m going to do the voice.”

“Oh, please don’t do the voice.”

In a bland, monotone voice that sounded like it was trying too hard to be cool, Waverly mocked, “Everything is a government ploy, don’t fall for it, man! Protect your privacy! Protect your hard-earned dollars!”

Nicole shook her head, unamused. “Haha. Funny. You’re hilarious.”

“Teen Nicole would implode if she knew you were a soldier.”

“Yeah, sure. Then she’d look at my debt and say ‘I told you so!’ like the little shit she was.”

“I love irony. Teen Nicole was a looker, you know.”

Nicole grinned, wide. “Oh, you like that, huh? That moody Edward Cullen feel?”

Waverly frowned, “Maybe not the Edward Cullen part.”

“What about the cybernetic part? Just be careful; if I don’t charge up like a battery, the date’s not going to be as fun.”

At the mention of cybernetics, Nicole seemed to quiet down. Grow a little serious.

“Sometimes I’m not sure it was worth it.” Rubbing under her sternum, where the port for charging and updates was. She was a human cell phone; always needing to be charged at night.

Waverly was ready to argue. “The implants help you breathe and walk, Nicole. Of course they’re worth it.”

“What if I waited a little longer? What if everything just healed on its own? I know they said—But what if—”

Waverly took Nicole’s hand. “You were in the hospital for a really long time. You know what they said.”

“I guess I just wanted to get out of there. I just wanted to be better again. I finally got my life back on track, and then everything got screwed up again.”

Waverly tilted her head. Suggestively, an eyebrow raised. “You can always fix everything again.”

“No. Not like that. I’m not doing it, Waverly. It’s too risky. I’m not doing anything within a mile of Bobo Del Rey, ever again. I don’t care if he’s the cashier at our grocer—I’m not doing it.”

“Okay, fine. I’ll drop it. We’re not doing it.”

“Well—Good. We’re doing this the safe way. Nobody shooting us.”

“The safe way,” Waverly agreed.

“Um.”

“What?”

“You’re still holding my hand.”

“Problem?”

Nicole’s expression gushed into a smile. “No, no problem.”

“Well, good.”

-

Days passed, and Wynonna Earp was still in Purgatory. It was the strangest feeling Waverly had in a long while. Thirteen years Wynonna was gone. Thirteen years without so much as a call or a text. And now she was here, crashing in Waverly’s spare bedroom, jumping back in like nothing ever happened and time was never lost.

Honestly, it was a bizarre feeling.

Having the whole family together, enjoying a lovely meal at Gus and Curtis’s ranch? Bizarre. Absolutely bizarre. Absolutely unreal.

When Nicole’s phone rang, Waverly knew it was too good to be true.

When Nicole’s happy grin took a deep delve into the worst frown Waverly’d seen in her life, everything seemed too good to be true.

She knew it, in Nicole’s passenger seat, driving back to the mechanic stop. She knew it, as the shop was surrounded by several police cars and even more fire trucks, the building burning to nothing.

Her hand did not leave Nicole’s, as Sheriff Nedley gave his report.

“There was an unstable ship. One of the engines blew and took the whole garage with it. They think Champ did it; everyone knows how illy he speaks of Haught. That, or your boys didn’t catch the ship’s malfunction. Neither are good, either way.”

Nicole didn’t have any words.

“Two of your employees died in the blast. One is in critical condition. Others were in the lot. Chetri was the furthest, so he’s completely alright.”

“What about the customers?” Nicole couldn’t form the words, so Waverly asked for her.

“Nobody was killed. A few of ‘em were taken to the hospital.”

“Well, what—What does this mean? For Nicole, and for—”

Nicole stopped looking at the ground a moment and looked at Nedley. Horrified. He tried to be gentle, but he never was one to skirt around the truth, admitting, “This isn’t going to look good, Haught. It’ll be a big legal battle. Everyone will be trying to shoot you down.”

Wouldn’t be the first time, now would it? Why the hell did she take the night off?

“Go home and get some rest. I’ll give you updates. I’ll call Martinez’s firm. That man owes me enough favors, we’ll get you a lawyer to fight back.”

That’s when Nicole spoke. “But Jesus Christ, how much is that going to _cost_ ? I mean, my _shop_ , Nedley—look at it!”

He did not react. “I need you to head home and clear your head. The fight hasn’t started yet.”

-

Back at dinner, Nicole did not relax. She did everything _but_ relax.

Pacing out back, yelling at some poor fool on the phone who seemed to throw the first punch in that fight. Probably one of her employees. Waverly warned her about sympathy-hiring Champ Hardy . . .

Call after call, all night, all the way back home. By the sounds of it, Nedley called in his favor and the favor immediately pounced on the job to tell Nicole how screwed she was. Nicole just lost her business and two, maybe three of her employees—wasn’t in the mood.

Champ also gave out her personal phone number to the families of those affected. Despite the job she gave him, he was still out to get her. What a world. She thought they’d settled their differences. He’d been working there a month now without problems. Why choose now? Would he do something like this at all? 

What the hell were the chances of this happening? There had to be foul play, here. 

This night was growing to be worse than the one she almost died.

Things settled around midnight. Thankfully hospitals had a problem with their patients shouting into their cell phones late into the evening. Nicole contemplated faking her death and running to a different galaxy. Wasn’t like she was new to a life on the run. Maybe a little rusty . . .

Waverly was by her side, with a cup of tea and all the support she could muster. And the hope Nicole wouldn’t be mad when she offered, “We need to take this trip.”

Nicole sighed.

“We need to take this _job.”_

“You don’t. I do.”

Waverly rolled her eyes at that. “Without me? You two are going to find it without me? What’ll you do, go to every planet in the galaxy?”

“I mean, I’m not working right now. I have the time.”

“You need me, Haught. More than ever now.”

Nicole sighed again. “I don’t much like that big brain of yours.”

“You _need_ my big brain.”

“I guess we could just dump it into a robot.”

“Very funny.”

Nicole looked up at her. “We’ll have to leave soon, though. Before this case really takes off.”

“Wouldn’t want you to be a space criminal. Again.”

Nicole fell serious. “Are you sure about this, Waverly? If Bobo catches onto us—that’s it. We’re finished. Not to mention there are some crazy people out th—”

“I’m doing this, Nicole. You two can’t go alone, and I’m not letting you to go alone. Either I go or we don’t go at all.”

Nicole was never really sure how or why Waverly scared her so much. “Okay.”

Waverly was _extremely_ smug about it. “Good!”

“Tomorrow we get supplies. I’m recruiting Jeremy, too. Wouldn’t hurt. He needs the money, too.”

“I’ll get a spreadsheet of our budget together!”

Nicole frowned. “I don’t like how excited you are about a spreadsheet.”

-

Jeremy Chetri was the superior mechanic. He had the mind for it. The gift for it. If he was the one staying back after hours, he’d get through the backlog twelve times faster than Nicole for sure. But she wouldn’t ask him to do anything more than he is now. (That, and she couldn’t pay him for his time.)

The fact Jeremy wasn’t in the garage during the time of the malfunction made honest sense to her. He would’ve known what was wrong with the whole system, even if he wasn’t directed to look at the whole system.

Back in the day, the military used to _love_ having him as a recruit. But not enough to pay for his brain implants, the same way they didn’t love Nicole enough to pay for her spinal and lung implants.

By now, she knew everything about Jeremy. His favorite color, his least favorite food, favorite TV show, which song he could listen to on a loop for hours, his favorite type of man—everything. When an unmanned enemy ship sliced through theirs and took away Jeremy’s ability to remember the previous day and Nicole’s ability to walk and breathe—they got very, very close.

Business partners. Debt partners. And hopefully, treasure hunting partners.

Nicole felt a little guilty about standing on his doorstep, preparing to ask him to go on a potentially dangerous journey to settle _her_ debts. But if there was one thing she learned from riding with Bobo’s crew as a young adult, people can be bought. Just a manner of finding their price.

Bobo.

She felt sick, suddenly. 

Jeremy’s cut would cover his medical bills, his home, and the engagement ring he wanted to buy for his long-time boyfriend. The whole damn wedding, too. He was crazy about Robin. He’d be crazy to refuse.

Nicole knocked on the door. She didn’t say a word when Jeremy answered. Just too happy to see him, okay and unharmed. She pulled him into a giant hug instead.

When they parted, all he had was humor. “We really need to stay away from ships, huh?”

“Yeah,” Nicole laughed, though not strong. “Maybe we should try opening a restaurant instead.”

Jeremy’s laugh wasn’t all too strong, either. “Certainly feels safer. As long as we stay away from selling alcohol—you know how Purgatorians get.”

“Oh, don’t I. Look, I, um, I’m just going to come right out and say it—”

“You’re not quitting, are you? Nicole—”

“No, no, I’m not. I would never. I, um, I have a job I’m doing. To fix this. To fix this and a lot of other things. But I need a mechanic. Preferably the best one I know and have already worked with?”

He seemed to be considering it. “How much?”

“More than enough.”

Nicole Haught was not a liar, at least not for the time Jeremy had known her. He’d met her at a time she’d sworn off lying, forever. Not counting how she lied about her back pain. “What’s the job?”

Nicole nearly leapt with joy—he was taking it. “We’re going—um, how do I say this?”

“Oh, come on, there’s no way it’s that bad. What is it, sign twirling? Rodeo clowns?”

Both of those sounded more practical. “We’re, um, we’re going treasure hunting?”

“Very funny.”

Nicole shook her head, serious.

“Treasure hunting? For what? Atlantis? El Dorado?”

“Remember how we told you about Wynonna Earp?”

“Waverly’s sister? Yeah, I— _No_ —”

“Yeah.”

“But I thought you guys didn’t have access to it!”

“Ward looked, but he was never successful. But Waverly’s old research—”

“Do you really think she can find it? Even for Waverly, there’s a whole galaxy out there.”

“Waverly’s good for it. Remember that time she tracked down Robin’s stolen car?”

Jeremy grinned wide at the memory. “Nedley felt so stupid.”

“So, what do you say, Jeremy? Will you help us? Will you be our mechanic?”

He shrugged, a little too excited now. “I mean, it’s not like I’m working right now, right?”

They shook on it.

Team Earp officially had a navigator, a mechanic, a total and complete expert on the treasure itself, and the heir herself. Ship needed some touching up. Supplies were being bought.

They were really doing this. They were really, actually going after the Earp family’s lost treasure.

They were finally going to be free from their debts. Free, to live their lives.

-

“Waverly, what are you even buying all this crap for?”

Waverly didn’t answer her. Just threw more nonsense into their cart, highlighting some kind of giant shopping list in the form of a spreadsheet. Big nerdy grin on her face. Huge list. Wasn’t she supposed to be a broke twenty-something-year-old like everyone else? 

“If you’re throwing a party, there’s not nearly enough alcohol,” Wynonna huffed.

“I think you drink enough as it is. What were you even doing last night? I heard you up and about.”

“I was face-down in your crapper,” Wynonna put bluntly.

Waverly made her assumptions. She didn’t need the details. “Wow.”

“What, did I keep Haught up all night? That why she was so grumpy this morning?”

“She’s not really a morning person anymore.”

“Mmm hmm,” Wynonna agreed. Eyeing Waverly a little suspiciously as she tossed some potato chips into the cart. Crossed nothing off. Wasn’t on the list. Nicole’s favorite, if Wynonna recalled correctly. “You and Haught are chummy now. Real chummy. That’s nice. Roommates are nice.”

Something strange seemed to shift in Waverly. Before she chased it off and masked it by turning away. “She’s been back in town for a long time. At first, I mostly asked her about you.”

“Why not just ask me?”

Waverly turned back, quickly. “I tried. You never answered.”

“Oh.”

The cart was being pushed forward, quickly. She was making an escape. “There’s just one more thing, then we’re out of here.”

Wynonna followed, quietly. It wasn’t until they were ready to check out she spoke, “Haught is a great friend.”

Honestly, Waverly replied, “She’s the best friend I’ve ever had.”

She said nothing after that. Like she was upset, with Wynonna.

Wynonna cursed herself. Why didn’t she just pick up her damn phone? Why couldn’t she just try harder?

-

The silent and slightly awkward car ride did not bring them home. It brought them to the melted remains of Nicole’s garage, a place which stood so tall mere days ago. A place Wynonna reunited with her friend, mere days ago. Anything can happen, she figured, and every second counts.

Nicole and a man Wynonna never met before were working on a ship. Workaholics—carrying on the day without something as small as an actual place to work in.

Then Waverly started emptying the supplies from Nicole’s truck. To the ship. Waiting until she was about halfway done, Nicole and Jeremy wrenching their wrenches away, to fill Wynonna in.

“So, we’ve decided on your offer. Surprise!”

Wynonna was silent, mostly in disbelief.

“Still up for it?”

Then Wynonna was smiling, in pure joy. Happily agreeing, “I’m up for it.”

The Earp sisters loading up the ship with today’s giant purchases, Waverly stopping along the way to tidy up the old space Nicole hadn’t used since she was still getting treated. There were only so many doctors left who worked with her types of implants, and unfortunately they didn’t all live in the same place. 

By the time night fell, it was looking like a swell little home. Perfect hideout for a treasure hunting gang. One more trip home. One night out for dinner at the McCready ranch, a tearful and last-minute goodbye to Robin, then they were back in the ship. Ready to take off.

With Waverly’s extensive research laid out on the table.

“The best way to track this,” she said, the team listening patiently, “is to follow Edwin Earp.”

“The ‘One Year Wonder’?” Wynonna asked.

Waverly nodded, confirming, “The legend himself.”

“Wait,” Nicole piped up, “what makes him a wonder, exactly?”

Waverly looked all too excited to explain. “The Earp family took a huge interest in theft after the first galactic civilizations were being founded. Our great-great grandfather, who named himself after our older ancestor Wyatt Earp, began stealing from government transportation caravans in 2097, after they canceled food stamps programs on Earth in favor of using that money to export to businesses on different planets. He was a struggling farmer who had three jobs and could never seem to put food on the table every night.”

Nicole and Jeremy both snorted. They knew the feeling.

“He remained a thief until he died in 2107, during a heist. It became sort of the Earp family tradition. Josiah Earp retired when he was forty, to raise his son, our grandfather Edwin.”

“The One Year Wonder,” Wynonna repeated blandly, almost impatiently.

Waverly continued as if she was never interrupted. “Edwin didn’t want to carry the family tradition. He wanted an honest life—he was an accountant!”

“Nerd,” Wynonna mumbled.

“Josiah never approved of it. He died when Edwin was twenty-six. Edwin decided, with his father’s death, he’d finally make him proud and joined the family trade. In just one year, he stole more valuables than any Earp did in their entire lifetime; more than the entire family vault combined.”

“The One Year Wonder,” Nicole repeated, impressed.

“Unfortunately,” Waverly went on, “Edwin died at sea on Planet X-214. I want to start there, at the end of his journey.”

“The one known for sea storms?” Nicole asked.

Waverly nodded.

“Oh, good. At least we don’t be bored, then.”

“We should be able to fish out his old maps. He had to be looking for Wyatt II’s old vault. It’s like a bank; it’s where Earps hid their money after they stole. It kept the law off them. Every Earp had a different stash. Wyatt II’s was the original, obviously, and he kept his treasures collected, intending it for his future generations to be able to lean on. Unfortunately, he died before he could tell Josiah. Josiah found out from an old crewmate. Then Josiah died without telling Edwin about his own stash. What was left of it, anyway. And Edwin kept his money on him at all times. Too bad the government dove down there already and looted his entire ship.”

Wynonna scoffed. “Can never be that easy, right?”

Nicole stood from the table, rounding the corner to the pilot’s pit. One seat and station to man the whole ship. There was a gunner’s turret somewhere towards the rear of the craft. “Okay. To Planet X-214 we go, then.”

There was a quick, automated systems check before Nicole set the ship in motion. Her passengers were without seatbelts, but inertia only kicked them back slightly, as if Nicole wasn’t driving the ship at all.

In reality, she was pushing the launch into a jump closest to the planet in question. Jumping several galaxies in a manner of _seconds._

Settling just outside the nearest system to their destination, a drastically slower speed now. Drifting easily to their first stop was the plan. Would take a few hours. Autopilot setting in after about five minutes of Nicole’s guidance. Traveling this way was always strange. Speeds in the high hundreds of miles per hour, and yet they didn’t feel a damn thing. It was as if they were cruising through the countryside on a golf cart.

They could walk freely about the ship as it drove itself to their destination. Sleep peacefully, without feeling so much as a slight turbulence. Follow Nicole on a tour of the cabin, without realizing they were actually in space itself.

Waverly’s eyes were stuck on every window they passed. She could reach outside and touch the _stars_ . She was in a _spaceship,_ traveling to a different _planet._ The other day she was dreadfully grading poor test scores. Now she was cashing in all her many unused sick days and going on a real life treasure hunt. Life was funny that way, perhaps.

She just hoped it would all work out.

-

There was a large lounging area in the center of the ship. Directly connected to the front was the piloting cockpit. To the right, a kitchen fully stocked with fresh groceries. A hallway to the rear leading to the rooms, the gunner’s turret, and a couple storage spaces.

Back in the day, this ship was Curtis’s. Back when he worked on a much bigger ranch and sold interplanetary goods. His idea of retirement was to buy a much smaller plot of land and settle down in Purgatory. Sixty years old, still tossing hay bales. Wynonna would never have imagined she’d be on her uncle’s ship, sailing with her sister and her childhood friend to locate the missing vault of the Earp family’s unused earnings. Life was funny that way, maybe.

Though she hoped to be bunking with her sister on this trip. Instead she was in her own, tiny room, Jeremy across the hall. Waverly and Nicole were sharing the Commander’s quarters at the end of the hall, just after the turret.

“Why don’t you two just date?”

Wynonna couldn’t help the question. Just slipped out.

“If you plan on staying up all night doing whatever you were doing yesterday,” Waverly spoke, “then I am definitely not bunking with you.”

Wynonna made a disapproving face.

“Besides,” Waverly added, “I need the extra space to set up an office. You know, for my research? For the thing leading us to Edwin?”

“And it’s my ship,” Nicole added. “I’m the Commander. The _Commander’s quarters_ are mine.”

Wynonna made a face again. “This is _Curtis’s_ ship, you girl scout.”

Nicole made a face of her own. An annoyingly proud one. “He _gave_ it to me.”

“Fine. Enjoy your slumber party then, losers.”

Nicole waved her off. Waverly hugged her goodnight.

Commander’s quarters next. On the way Nicole repeated, snickering,“ ‘Why don’t you two just date?’ ”

The way Waverly was silent shut her up. Was she upset at the thought of them together? 

Something stopped Nicole at the door. Multiple texts, from both her new lawyer and those who were harshly given her personal phone number. No thanks to Champ. Couple other concerned texts, as well. It was a miracle she received texts in the dead of _space._

No one thought this was a good idea. It was suspicious she was leaving the planet. Looked like she was running away.

She texted one number. **I’m bringing something home. Something that’ll make everyone happy.**

It was wrong to worry Nedley like this, sure, but it’s what had to happen. He protected her enough. It was time she did something for herself, for once.

“Aren’t you coming?”

Waverly. Nicole snapped out of it and entered the Commander’s quarters.

The second the door closed, the auto-lock engaged. Waverly stood on her tiptoes and kissed Nicole. Nicole grinned wide, like she’d never been kissed before.

“Wait,” Nicole said, “I think we should consider dating first.”

Waverly playfully rolled her eyes. “It’ll be a little hard to date someone I’ve been married to for two years.”

Two whole years. The thought of it made Nicole grin wider. She added, “The first date won’t be too awkward. We already know everything about each other.”

“We already knew everything about each other our first date.”

“See? And it wasn’t awkward in the slightest!”

Waverly crossed her arms. “What about the part where you choked on a shrimp for a good five minutes?”

Shrugging, Nicole walked off. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Liar.”

When Nicole turned around again, she found the opposite of what she was expecting. Not total and unrestrained excitement about the fact they were going on a sci-fi space journey.

She found . . . regret?

“Nicole,” Waverly said, “this is wrong. We have to tell her. We have to tell her we’re married.”

Nicole wasn’t arguing. She found no reason to. “So let’s do it. You can’t hold things in like this, Waverly. You’ll go crazy.”

“But I—She—We invited her. She never answered. She never answered any of my texts, my calls, my million messages on her few social media pages—never. Not one. We postponed our wedding a whole year!”

Nicole took a short breath. “It’s up to you, Waverly. She’s your sister.”

“She’s as much your sister as she is mine.”

“I’m not telling if you’re not ready. We do things together, Wave, that’s how this works.”

“I thought she was dead, Nicole. It was _cruel,_ the way she didn’t take, what, a _second_ of her time? Just to say hi? Just once?”

That’s when Nicole rushed over and pulled Waverly into a giant hug. Wasn’t the first time they had this talk. Wasn’t ever an easy talk. Wasn’t easy, being ignored by family. Nicole knew that feeling.

“We can always wait until things settle down. I mean, we both wear our rings on a necklace, it’s not like she’ll notice, right?” Nicole looked down at her. “We don’t have to jump into this. I don’t ever want you to feel pressured, Waverly.”

Waverly looked up at Nicole, lost in her arms. “This isn’t going to work. I’m going to jump your bones right in the pilot’s seat.”

“It wouldn’t be the weirdest place we’ve—”

“Hey, wait!”

Suddenly Waverly was breaking from Nicole’s hold. Nicole, left confused and asking, “What?” Her hands being grabbed gently by Waverly’s and tugged somewhere else.

“We’ve never had space sex before.”

Nicole’s shoulders relaxed. “Wow.”

Something changed in Waverly, for a moment. A sudden burst of excitement, as she leaned in and kissed Nicole again. “I can’t wait to take this journey with you. I mean, we have been trying to get away for a while. This is one way to do it, right?”

“One hell of a way to do it,” Nicole agreed. “I love taking journeys with you, Waverly Haught.”

Waverly kissed her again. “I love taking journeys with you too, Nicole Haught.”

-

There was no need to unpack. It was a superstition of Wynonna’s anyway, unpacking—once you get comfortable, something bad happens. Something bad _always_ happened.

There was one item, however, she was willing to unpack. Her family weapon, in her possession since the day her father died on his last heist. His final, greatest heist—the one she planned to steal from right under him.

Peacemaker was probably the oldest laser gun in the explored galaxies, and it was probably better to have sold the thing for a quick buck, but it had something special about it. The power of her ancestors, maybe? It was always tradition to pass the gun down, to the next “heir”, after an Earp completed their career. After an Earp was set for life, every one of their greatest riches hidden away in a giant vault. Not that they seemed to have much luck in vaults.

Ward worked hard to steal the confiscated gun back, stolen from Edwin’s wreck. Wynonna was grateful. Holding the gun didn’t bring her comfort. It brought her _confidence._

In a flash, she dropped it onto the ship’s floor.

Forget unpacking; the past few months hadn’t been comfortable to begin with.

Damn it, she was _frustrated._

As she stood, hunched over, coughing blood all over her family’s prized weapon, she felt _frustrated._

It was about to be another restless night of tossing, turning, and pain. It was about to be another night under Constance Clootie’s curse.

She thought she was doing better. She hadn’t been coughing. Now all of a sudden she was coughing again. A huge fit, one enough to floor her.

They needed to hurry this along. They were on a clock, here, and Wynonna had no plans in letting up. She needed to get to this treasure as soon as possible. She hoped Edwin Earp died in the same sea the treasure could’ve been hidden away in.

The plan was simple: pay off her debts. Pay off all the people in all the galaxies that held even the slightest of grudges against her. Because once she was gone, everything fell on Waverly. Waverly, who deserved more than being a small town history teacher in a class of students who couldn’t care if they tried. Set Waverly off with something grand, before she passed. That was Wynonna’s plan.

On the ground, staring at her own blood, Wynonna laughed. The curse was still active; her own sister didn’t even love her.

What a damn mess she’d made in this life.

She couldn’t tell Waverly. It would change things. Waverly would force herself to love Wynonna, and forced love wasn’t any sort of love at all.

No, Wynonna would tough this out.

Get the treasure, secure Waverly’s future. That was all she wanted.

One last chance to do something right for her baby sister.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nicole likes secret marriages….
> 
> The song used in this chapter was [The Bitch is Back - Elton John](https://open.spotify.com/track/39mil4vLySlovlIjyGzAp5?si=bIxE6BUTTG6NdxKeYlIG5Q)
> 
> Thank you for reading, means a lot. Hope you liked, and hope you’ll tune in next time, when the gang goes for a little dive at sea.


	2. A Pirate's Life... And All That Nonsense

Space.

Galaxy 81.

12:10 p.m., Earth EST

The poor circulation that used to make Waverly freeze in even the warmer spectrum of cold temperatures drove her insane. Jackets, when it was hot for everyone else. Shivering uncontrollably in the time it took to get from the front door to the running car. Several layers of blankets at night. Very expensive heat bills.

And then she started dating Nicole.

Nicole, the human radiator who let Waverly settle close while they slept and, even better, pulled her closer. Even when the mountain of blankets made her sweat like they were in the peak of summer, tanning at the beach.

Elton John did not lie; space was cold as hell. But lying here, Nicole peacefully asleep behind Waverly, holding her close? Who cared how cold space was. In fact, the colder the better.

Marrying Nicole was the best damn thing she ever did.

She loved Nicole so much, in fact, her first reaction to the morning was a whole waterfall of mushy thoughts. Not, _Hey, who’s knocking at our door right now?_

Probably nothing. She settled closer to Nicole. Tried going back to sleep. The fact she had a restless night was helping nudge her in that direction. 

Knocking.

Loud knocking.

Waverly turned in Nicole’s hold, the commander fast asleep. “Baby,” she whispered, miserably awake. “Baby, the door.”

Nicole groaned and settled closer, ignoring anything that didn’t have “sleep” or “Waverly” in the equation.

The knocking continued, louder. Nicole groaned even louder, as if to outdo it.

Waverly turned completely, facing Nicole fully now. “Baby.”

No answer.

“Nicole Rayleigh Haught—”

Nicole turned completely around as well, her back to Waverly. “It’s Saturday and I’m in space,” she whined.

Suddenly, Waverly shook her. “Hey, what if we’re about to crash?”

Did the trick; Nicole raced out of the bed and for the door, frantically pressing at the auto lock to disengage it. Wynonna staring back at her. Calmly.

“Yo,” she said, “what’s for space breakfast?”

Nicole’s shoulders dropped, and with it her grumpy morning attitude returned. “Your shoes. Enjoy.”

“Terrible service,” Wynonna frowned. “You know it’s noon, right?”

Nicole tiredly rubbed at her eyes. “Space has no time zone. Since when are you the morning person on the ship?”

Wynonna shot a look. “Have fun on your sleepover last night, girls? Talk about boys?”

“There wasn’t much talking.” Nicole heard Waverly snicker somewhere behind her.

Crossing her arms, thankfully and blessedly oblivious, Wynonna replied, “Right. You probably listened to ‘Rocket Man’ forty thousand times or something. We get it! We’re in space! Play something else! You’ve been playing that damn song on a loop since we got on this ship!”

Nicole was the one frowning, now. “Breakfast is self-serve. Feel free to stop dissing Elton John on the way.”

With a final roll of the eyes, Wynonna was off. “Yeah, yeah.”

And Nicole was free to return to her bed. Where Waverly was smiling like the devil. Probably for getting her to get up.

“Sucker,” she said, laughing. 

Nicole eyed her. “You know I’m disabled, right?”

Waverly pouted. “But I’m sleepy, Rocket Man.”

Nicole frowned again. “I’m starting to not miss my wife.”

“Don’t be grumpy.” Waverly pulled Nicole closer by the hand, trying to smooth things over with a kiss to the cheek. “Even if your grumpy face is cute.”

Nicole collapsed back into the bed and grunted. Waverly playing with her long hair.

“You owe me, you know. You kept me up all night.”

Nicole propped her head back up. “We didn’t go all night. Actually we were pretty damn lazy, now that I—”

“No, you did something else.”

Nicole held herself up even higher. More alert. “What?”

Within the next few moments they were both shuffling into the kitchen. Waverly sitting next to Wynonna at the small island, Nicole fixing her something to eat and a coffee. Wynonna, staring at Nicole fixing food up for Waverly. What happened to self-serve?

“How intimate of you,” she said.

Waverly laughed. Nicole tossed a look.

Then Wynonna was nudging Waverly’s shoulder. Asking, “Sleep good in space, Wave? You never forget your first time.”

Nicole snickered into Waverly’s coffee, as she delivered it. Waverly, immediately taking several sips.

Finally answering a moment later, feeling more awake and alive, “Last night Nicole woke up, sneezed four times, and went back to sleep.” She downed more coffee. “I did not. Not until about twenty minutes ago.”

Nicole delivered the food next. “I said I was sorry.”

Waverly only stared daggers into her.

“While we’re attacking Haught,” Wynonna added, much too happy to do so, “maybe we can bully her into getting a heating unit. For real, Haught, it’s god damn _cold_ , dude.”

A smile crept upon Nicole’s face, in the most evil of fashions. “ _In fact, it’s cold as hell . . .”_

Wynonna rolled her eyes.

“Maybe I’ll get you some more blankets,” Nicole offered. “Maybe a teddy bear, too. Does that work?”

Again, Wynonna rolled her eyes. “You and Waverly are a little too similar for my liking; thousand blankets at night, the old music—weirdos. Well, I’m sorry, Haught is _Captain_ Weirdo. My mistake.”

“That’s Commander, to you,” Nicole corrected. “We’re in space. I come with cool cyborg parts and everything; perfect for my sci-fi crew.”

“Uh huh.” Wynonna finished off the rest of her own coffee, stealing a huge portion of Waverly’s meal before retreating to the sink. Facing Nicole afterwards, “So, Commander, what’s the ETA? We’ve been at it ten hours now.”

“Three more, then we’ll be landing. It was the furthest I could jump. Galaxy 81 has a lot of asteroids; I wanted to be safe.”

Wynonna sighed, “Should’ve brought a damn book, then.”

Joining her at the sink, Waverly added, “You could always learn to knit.”

“And what, knit myself a blanket?” Wynonna eyed them both. “I hate this ship.”

Amused, Nicole shook her head. “Look, there’s a VR set around here somewhere. It’s an old military model for shooting. Go do a couple rounds and keep warm. Never know what we’ll run into out there, right?”

Wynonna began to walk off, apparently now with a goal. “Fine,” she said. Grumbling, “I hope we find a sea monster.”

The moment Wynonna’s back was turned, Waverly stole a kiss from Nicole.

-

The three parted shortly after breakfast. Nicole, to check their course. Waverly, to check her notes. Wynonna, retreating back to her room. Not long after putting on the VR set, she fell into a coughing fit. Must’ve had something stuck in her throat from breakfast, right?

Even after Nicole hijacked the abandoned VR set, she was left with two hours. Wynonna in her room, probably taking a nap or something. Jeremy in his, talking on the phone with Robin. She decided to check in with Waverly in the commander’s quarters.

Waverly, pouring over her many notes and turning their bedroom into the ultimate library. Nicole almost expected to be kicked out when she entered, but Waverly happily greeted her with another kiss.

“Everything going okay?” Nicole asked. “Don’t tell me we’re pointed for the wrong Edwin Earp’s shipwreck.”

Waverly rolled her eyes, playfully. “Ha, ha, very funny. It’s only taking so long because I keep getting sidetracked fun texts and calls about the business.”

Nicole shrugged, “Your fault for offering to put the shop under your name. Can’t blame me because you weren’t prepared for spontaneous explosions.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah, ‘wow’. I told you we needed spontaneous explosion insurance, but _no._ Had to go the cheap option.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah. _Really_.”

“I hope we _are_ going to the wrong Edwin Earp, then.”

Nicole settled comfortably on the bed, Waverly’s research dumped in controlled chaos around the ground below. A couple electronic notebooks, with even more physical papers. Waverly Earp was a true Purgatorian, using something as old school as paper. “Tell me more about Edwin, Professor Haught.”

Perking up in that way Nicole _adored._ “I’m fascinated by him.”

Nicole motioned her on. “How’s that figure?”

“Well, there’s not much we know about him, while he was active. It’s both horrifying and exciting; it means I have more to learn. But it also means there’s room for error.”

“The day you of all people are wrong is the day I’m a debt-free millionaire,” Nicole laughed. “What else? What do we have on him?”

“Well, as you know, he was an accountant. Very organized. Always had a plan in his head—”

“A regular Waverly.”

“I guess it’s in the blood, huh?”

On her stomach, Nicole grabbed one of Waverly’s blankets and hugged it close. “What else? You’re really holding back here, Earp.”

“Fine. Edwin was the most financially safe Earp we’ve ever had. He supported his father, my grandfather, Josiah, once Josiah’s money completely ran out. Josiah was not a kind man. He was the opposite of his son and his father. Wyatt II was giving and obsessed with ‘justice’. Edwin stopped at every opportunity to help. Most of his crew were similar to pirates in the 1700s; poor men with nothing else, trying to make their way, stealing from unfair governments. I’m sure Teen Nicole can tell you all about it.”

Nicole laughed.

“But Josiah? Nope. Nope, nope, nope. Not a good man. His own crew hated him. He decided to focus on raising Edwin not because he wanted to be a father, but because, on his career’s biggest heist, his crew performed a mutiny and raided his personal vault. What wasn’t taken by them was taken by the local government. They hoped to arrest him, but I’m sure they were still pretty happy to get some money out of it. You know, Josiah actually—”

Nicole was confused. Waverly stopped, suddenly. Apparently without reason. Just staring at Nicole. “What?”

Smiling, in another adorable way Nicole _loved_. “I just love you a lot, okay? Nobody ever listens to these things.”

“Whoa, back up. We haven’t even been on our first date yet.”

“You’re such a doof. But, a _lovable_ one.”

“This is getting a little too intimate for me.”

Shaking her head, Waverly rolled her eyes playfully. “You are _terrible_.”

Nicole laughed it off. “So, heart-eyed history expert—tell me about what we’re doing today.”

There wasn’t a second used to stop and think. “We’re going on a dive then we’re coming back here and I’m going to be ‘pretty lazy’ with you right on that bed.”

“We were _very_ lazy.”

Another roll of the eyes. Before formally answering, “We’ll be searching Edwin’s ship at the bottom of the sea. It’s a moderate size, with a giant captain’s quarters.” She gestured, “Which is where his money _was_ , before it was looted. We’ll be able to find it by the devil figurehead, and the crow’s nest sticking out of the waters.”

“Why the devil head?” 

“They refer to the Earp line as demons; ‘revenants’ who keep rising. No matter how many Earps die, the next is ready to replace them. AKA the law hates our family very much.”

“Not as much as those waters are bound to. X-214 is a rough place. And I’ve been to a lot of rough places. Usually with you Earps the law hates so much.”

“I was watching the charts all night. I think I found the right timing to get us to the ship and back out without dying a horrible death at sea.”

Nicole smiled, in a way Waverly knew was going to make her mad. “So what you’re saying is my sneezing and keeping you up saved the day?”

“I do not miss my wife.”

-

Unclaimed Pier, Planet X-214.

Galaxy 81.

3:33 p.m., Earth EST

The first and biggest sign of an “uninhabited” planet was the lack of security upon entry. Not a soul from any variation of the Orbital Space Force was stationed in orbit, ready to pounce on visitors. Ready to shoot down any ships that forced entry. Probably for the best, given Wynonna’s wanted status. 

Also meant the planet was lawless; anything goes. Sometimes a good thing. Often a bad thing. Get in, get out—that was the plan. Leave no room to sweat the details. 

Uninhabited—or “uncivilized”, as the government called them—planets were the one thing Waverly was not looking forward to exploring. Purgatory was on Earth, the safest planet in all the explored universe. She was diving from one end of the scale to the other.

The coordinates to Edwin’s precise shipwreck site led them to a pier. Few drifters, sitting around a beachside restaurant one might find at a fancy resort. Some people were enjoying a quiet game of poker. Others, fishing. Some sat at the restaurant’s bar and drank their troubles away in peace. One particular Earp hung back and kept a low profile. Never know where bounty hunters loom, after all. (Usually in places like this, looking for drifters like her.)

Waverly and Jeremy took a seat at the seating area in front of the bar. Wynonna somewhere far away. Nicole trying to negotiate a boat rental from a local businessman. A rich man; this was a planet of unexplored shipwrecks. Untouched riches. Most spacecrafts weren’t equipped to land on the water without half of it sinking into the ocean. Departing from water wasn’t easy, either. Frankly, it was easiest to rent a small boat and have the spacecraft hover overhead. Or, rent diving gear and dive from a hovering ship. Boat guy had plenty of diving gear, too. He, of course, was in expert in all options.

There were many things Waverly was prepared for. Bar brawls, random shootouts, someone recognizing Wynonna, a freak meteor strike—but what she wasn’t ready to see was a real life, fully automated _android._ Walking up to the table with palm tree swimming trunks and a shark tooth necklace, asking for their order with stereotypical surfer lingo.

“What’s up, dudes? What can I get you, man?”

She nearly collapsed.

Jeremy ordered a couple drinks for now. Laughing at his friend who truly hadn’t been out much, in Purgatory alone. Never mind planet hopping. 

Said friend defending, “Look, I know robots in restaurants are a thing, but—”

“But Purgatory is stuck in the 2000s and it’s your first time?” Jeremy chuckled.

“It’s _freaky,_ Jeremy!”

He laughed harder. Purgatory was such a small town, there were no fully automated restaurants. All people, everything face to face. There was simply no demand for it; no one was ever that busy. Nobody would be trusting, given their lack of use with robots, anyhow.

“And the surfer talk—”

Jeremy laughed again, “It’s a common business practice. The real owner is definitely off-world, probably in a fancy house. I doubt they’ve even been to this planet. All sorts of restaurants do it. A lot of people visit this place, apparently. Or the owner is rich enough that buying and maintaining robots doesn’t matter.”

“Well, I guess if the shop fails we can always turn to chain restaurants, right? Now that we’re all well-traveled?”

Most of all, Waverly was certainly not prepared for Jeremy’s next statement. Spoken while he smiled for her, “You haven’t seen anything yet. Trust me.”

She was suddenly buzzing with the excitement of exploration and new adventure. Something she, as an Earp, had been craving all her static life.

-

Things went from static to explosive at the drop of a pin.

One second Nicole was peacefully trying to negotiate a fair price, to no avail. The next second Wynonna was hijacking one of the rentals and rushing her team inside.

It was difficult not to be impressed.

They drove madly from view of the rental person, heading for their goal once they were in the clear. Then Wynonna stepped down from the controls and passed off the seat to their Commander Haught.

“Drive it smooth, Captain Weirdo,” she said. Nicole was almost tempted to push her overboard. _Almost._

Waverly stood suspiciously close to Nicole’s side, her digital map in hand. Guiding them all to the final resting place of Edwin Earp, the One Year Wonder. The ocean kicking roughly back at them as they traveled. Wynonna questioned why the hell she thought it was a good idea to bring leather pants to a diving mission.

Luckily she wouldn’t be the one diving.

The ship was just as Waverly described. The Earp family’s devil characterization a figurehead on a sunken ship, left with a damaged crow’s nest poking out like an antenna. The diving gear Nicole also planned to rent was stolen, as well, sitting in their free vessel, waiting to be used.

Jeremy and Waverly were to make the dive. Waverly, having read all the descriptions of the ship, and Jeremy, having been on swim teams for most of his life. Nicole and Wynonna weren’t complaining; Nicole couldn’t make the dive and Wynonna had no plans to swim today.

Nor did she have plans to listen to music from two centuries ago.

“This oldie crap again, Haught?” she asked, and Nicole grew visibly offended. “I can’t believe you fell for that old music Waverly’s obsessed with.”

Not all she fell for, but Wynonna didn’t need to know that right now. “Hey, it’s good music! Just give it a chance. She’s on to something, here.”

Her face twisted up. “It’s just so . . . old.”

“Old things are cool!”

“Old things are gross.”

“Old things are about to make us rich.”

Wynonna’s mouth closed at that. “I—I guess so, that’s fair.” She joined Nicole in leaning against the railing of the boat. “Fine. I will give it one more chance. Just one!”

Nicole grinned, in a way Wynonna felt she was about to hate. “I have the perfect one.”

In the middle of the ocean, the waters pushing and pulling at them as if on an angry mission to tip them over, Nicole’s Bluetooth speakers blared,

_I'm a cowboy, on a steel horse I ride_

_I'm wanted dead or alive_

_Wanted dead or alive_

“Alright,” Wynonna surrendered, “maybe this isn’t so bad. Not bad, old guy from ye olde ages.”

“1986.”

Wynonna made a face. “That’s gross. That’s like—”

Nicole followed her old friend’s eyes. Across the way, there was a small hoard of boats driving for them. Not friendlies. Not in a place like this, and certainly not in the middle of the ocean. Nicole looked back to Wynonna, just in time to catch the gun she was throwing over. Guns they got from Curtis’s “redneck stash”, as Waverly called it.

Wynonna gave Peacemaker’s cylinder a spin. “Still remember how to fight, Haught?”

The safety was switched off the gun, as Nicole smirked, “I’m always ready for a fight, Earp.”

There was barely enough time to warn Waverly and Jeremy below of the attackers before the shooting began.

Two boats, speeding right next to them without warning, opening fire without so much as a hello. Or even a curse. Nicole and Wynonna taking cover by the panels of the railing.

With a quick flick of the safety off, Wynonna was ready to pounce. A light tug of the used trigger and a laser bullet left the chamber, soaring from her boat, soaring across the waters below, and hitting an unnamed pirate goon deep in his shoulder. A dark black burn mark left in its path.

Safety, shot, miss. Safety, shot, another pirate’s chest. Nicole shot him the same time and finished the job. Two more rushed shots that Nicole recovered for her. Nicole was always better in these situations. Something about being shot at put Wynonna on edge. What ever could it be?

The sixth shot was a bit of a problem. And the reason Wynonna berated herself for rushing. Guns were like this now. Bullet-less, yes, but not without penalty. She popped open the cylinder and held the cooldown button in the center. Lasers cooling, so the heat didn’t make the weapon explode and die right in her hands. And possibly make her explode and die, as well. Thirty seconds and she’d be in the clear. 

Thirty seconds in a fight might as well be a thousand minutes.

Nicole’s would do the same after about twenty shots or so. Handguns tended to vary. Luckily she wasn’t shooting off as quickly as Wynonna did. Slow and steady, calm though she was clearly anxious at the notion of being shot at. What, like she’d never been shot at before?

Two more boats popped up behind them. Peacemaker reset, but not before three men boarded the ship.

“Keep shooting, Haught, I got this!”

Wynonna rushed off to make things a little more personal. She immediately kicked the closest to her, right over the rail and into the water below. The waters grew more and more violent, as if to match the gunfight it was hosting. While he was falling, Wynonna shot the second of the three in the chest. Throwing him overboard, as well, while he was stunned. The third threw away their overheated gun and began to throw punches.

She dodged the first with a step back, retaliating with a jab of her own to their nose. A second hit, when they were blown back by the force of it. When the guy tried to recover, Wynonna shot him, a fresh laser burning right through his head. Tossed him back into the ocean.

Running back to cover, Wynonna watched as Nicole’s gun overheated. She pulled the bottom clip from it, holding the cooldown button, counting to herself. She was stood fully in the paneled-off driver’s seat, nearly too tall for the roof overhead. Wynonna dove to the railing next to her and covered her opponents. More on the horizon, zooming on over.

Wynonna cursed. “Where the hell are Waverly and Jeremy?” She dodged a literal bullet, dunking her head downwards. “Fucking pirates!”

-

The captain’s quarters was just as big as the reports said. Massive enough to be made into another ship. Problem: it was taking longer to search.

At first Waverly was pleased at the concept. A deep sea dive, on an entirely different planet, making her own discoveries instead of reading up on someone else’s. But then she and Jeremy got the alert. Deep sea exploring would have to wait. People dove in these waters all the time. It was no surprise there were pirates about, trying to hijack what treasures were fished out of the ocean.

There was nothing here. Nothing in the rotted desk, no secrets under floorboards. Nothing in any of the crew’s cabins, either. Waverly was ready to cut open Edwin’s old mattress before Wynonna suggested,

“Maybe he fled to the crow’s nest like a coward.”

It was a possibility. Edwin might’ve been a good man, but the captain always tried the hardest to escape. The captain always left their crew on a sinking ship. No matter how golden their hearts were. Because, at their core, they were a rotten dirty thief.

At his core, Edwin was an Earp.

Jeremy was directed to continue searching the ship. Waverly would make the climb. She had no plans of telling anyone this, before Wynonna had a heart attack or Nicole’s spine fell right out.

Waverly removed her diving gear. There were loose ropes hanging from the mast. A direct path to the crow’s nest. This would be easy enough, right? 

Not like a bunch of pirates spotted her and started immediately shooting at her, right? Not like Wynonna starting shouting and Nicole started driving the boat over in a frenzy, right?

The team was lucky enough to find communications devices sitting around Curtis’s old ship, apparently waiting for the day his nieces went on a treasure hunt for their family’s collections. Such a device gave Wynonna the perfect opportunity to shout, into her little sister’s ear, “I was kidding! Get down from there before I make you swan the poop deck!”

“Just cover me!” Waverly shouted back, unwavering in her ascend. “If we leave empty-handed, there’s nothing to go on!”

“Fine. But if you get shot, I’ll kill you!”

Waverly took Nicole’s silence as an agreement.

Halfway up, one of the ropes snapped from right under Waverly’s grip. It split in half, swinging her around the mast before bringing her back to where she’d started. She quickly abandoned the single rope line to return to the webbed grid it used to belong to. Her heart only stopping _briefly_ before she continued, a little faster now.

At the top, she felt stupid. Edwin’s corpse was right there, staring at her. Why hadn’t she thought of this to begin with? The giant and obvious crow’s nest, sticking out of the friggin’ ocean?

Looked like the government hadn’t thought ahead, either. They took his money and left, it seemed. A satchel of her grandfather’s most personal effects were right here, tucked under his jacket. His personal journal, kept on a tablet, waiting inside.

“Guys!” Waverly reported. “Guys, this is it!”

Nicole’s spacecraft was already inbound. It stopped directly next to Waverly. An undercarriage opened just close enough for her to jump.

“Waverly,” Nicole asked, “there’s a rope ladder inside. It should be able to reach down to us. Can you make that jump?”

She only stared at the ship, unsure. “I don’t know, Nicole. If I miss—”

“You won’t miss. You won’t. You can do this, Waverly.”

She couldn’t even think of where Edwin’s journal would be. How the hell could she make that jump?

“I believe in you, Waverly.”

“Also,” Wynonna added, impatiently, “we’re being shot at!”

She was right. If Waverly chickened out, they were dead.

Waverly jumped.

Waverly landed.

She tried not to celebrate too hard. There was a laugh of disbelief from her lips, then she was springing forward to find the giant rope ladder. Luckily it was a giant rope ladder and not entirely too difficult to find. Wynonna and Nicole waited for Jeremy to resurface before climbing, shooting as they went along.

Onboard, they all collapsed in the cabin. Heavily breathing. Escaping, without a scratch on them. 

Nicole agreed with Wynonna’s earlier statement. “Fuckin’ pirates.”

-

Space. 

Galaxy 81.

6:41 p.m., Earth EST.

Jeremy looked much too happy as Waverly handed over the very, very dead tablet. All throughout dinner he sat at the table, poking around the thing to get it to take a charge. Like a crazed surgeon from a murder story. Meanwhile Wynonna fell into a coughing fit again. Ate too fast, again, she claimed. Waverly suggested they blend everything into a smoothie for her.

Post-dinner, the team went their separate ways. Wynonna, sneaking off after the coughing wouldn’t seem to calm. Jeremy, running off to his room, which was more sci-fi doctor’s lab than it was a place to sleep. Frankly, Waverly was slightly horrified of it. It was the space of a madman.

All the poking he did at dinner was about to pay off, as he plugged the older tech in to charge with its future model’s unchanged charger. It blinked to life within the same second.

“Aaaaaanndd I got it to charge!” he said, making some sort of victorious gesture with his arms.

There was nothing on the screen but for an image of a low battery charging.

“Once it gets powered up enough, you’ll be able to access what he had on here. It just needs a few.”

His reward was a giant hug. “Thank you, Jeremy,” Waverly said. “For everything. I mean—Thank you. For being with us, for diving with me, for leaving Robin behind to do th—”

“I would do anything for you and Nicole, you know that.”

“Still. Thank you.”

“I’m also not complaining about getting to play with technology.”

“I have a feeling you’ll get to do plenty of that.”

-

Waverly searched the whole ship before realizing where Nicole might’ve snuck off to. The second she entered their bedroom she heard pleasant singing coming from the bathroom.

_What can make me feel this way?_

_My girl..._

Nicole’s singing did not go interrupted, when Waverly poked her head into the shower. If anything, she sang louder.

“Mind if I join you?” Waverly asked, when the performance ended.

“Gee, I don’t know. Sounds kind of intimate.”

“That’s terrible.”

Nicole held the door open and invited Waverly into the steaming waters. Next song playing over the speaker. Waverly smiled and tugged Nicole along into a tight dance.

“And here I thought it was sexy time,” Nicole teased. “She only likes me for my music.”

Waverly hummed. “It is one of your best attributes.”

“I’m a human jukebox, huh?”

“No, you’ve got other skills, too.”

She placed Nicole’s hands suggestively on her waist, then stepped in to close the space.

“Haught!”

And almost fell completely over.

“Haught, have you seen my sister?”

“God damn it, Wynonna.” Waverly, under her breath. She looked to Nicole, “Do something, jukebox!”

Nicole complied, pressing a button on the intercom in the shower. “If I see Waverly in the shower with me, you’ll be the first person I gossip to. Scout’s honor.”

Waverly smacked her arm, though she laughed quietly. This sneaking around thing was a little too fun.

“Touch my sister,” Wynonna said, “and I’ll drown you in that shower water. Scout’s honor.”

Waverly smacked Nicole’s arm again. “You are the worst!”

Nicole tilted her head. “So no first date, then?”

-

They left the shower at separate times. Waverly scurrying back first, Nicole joining after a minute or so. Trying not to look too suspicious. They were going to tell Wynonna. Just not now. Not while they were treasure hunting in space, and certainly not after they just took a shower together.

Turns out Wynonna’s big emergency was something relating to alcohol. Figures. It was dropped the second Nicole entered the room, her hair nowhere near as dry as Waverly’s, who’d unleashed a full tornado on hers before rushing out. Secret keeping was hard work.

(Was the lie even worth it?)

Nicole’s was short enough to have dried, so she re-wet it. Just to be sure. Maybe the whole process made her feel a little guilty, but there was no time for that right now. Now they needed to figure out their next step. Assuming the tablet was even alive yet.

“Wait a minute, were you talking to me from the shower, Haught?”

One distraction first, then. Nicole nodded. “I installed intercoms in the showers, the rooms, and all across the ship when I took it over. Why?” She smiled, evil. “Too sexy for you, Earp?”

“Why in the shower, dude? Someone gonna slip and fall in the tub and flounder around?”

Nicole’s smile died at an instant. She fell so serious, like Wynonna had slapped her across the face. Then she was off in a hurry, muttering something about needing to check their course and scurrying off.

They didn’t have a set course yet.

Strange.

“The hell’s wrong with Haught?” Wynonna asked Waverly, since apparently they were close buddies now.

No part of Waverly looked amused. She was just as serious as Nicole, actually. “A little while after Nicole fully recovered, there was an accident at the garage. One of the ship’s fuel lines broke and sputtered oil everywhere. Nicole rushed over to try and fix it but she ended up slipping and falling. She was alone in the shop and couldn’t get up or call for help until I got worried and stopped by. It messed up her implants. She had to get an emergency surgery and everything. They fixed all they could, but she’s not one hundred percent. She has chronic pain, things like that.”

Wynonna sighed, “God damn I’m an asshole.”

“I’ll go check up on—”

Suddenly Jeremy was rushing up to them, Edwin’s tablet in hand. Shouting and babbling in some sort of made up language, perhaps?

“Whoa, whoa, hey, hold on,” Waverly stopped him. “What’s going on? Is it working?”

He held the device up high, as if presenting it from the top of Pride Rock. “It’s alive! And there’s no password!”

Waverly’s manners left for space as she yanked the thing from Jeremy’s hands, pushing Wynonna aside to take a seat at the table in the main cabin. One of her own digital notebooks already waiting for her as she read through the entire thing like a madwoman.

Wynonna peeked over her shoulder, unable to keep up with Waverly’s speed reading. So fast it could be a sport. “What does it say?”

No answer.

“What the hell does it say?”

A hand waved her off.

“Summarize it in one word.”

Waving her off again.

“You can’t just leave a sister hanging, here.”

It went back and forth as such, until Waverly finally finished up with a frustrated sigh.

Again, Wynonna asked, “Well? What does the stupid thing say?”

“Edwin had absolutely no interest in going after Wyatt’s treasure. He thought it was a waste of time; he was more interested in making his own way.” Waverly felt to throw the tablet across the ship. “There’s nothing to go on. Damn it!”

“Hey, Wave, it’s—”

Waverly brushed past her sister, furious. Mostly with herself. “I need to go over my notes again.”

Nicole poked her head out of the pilot’s pit as Waverly zoomed by. Briefly looking back at Wynonna. She was also gone, before Wynonna could usher an apology.

“ _Wow,_ I’m fucking this up,” Wynonna mumbled, collapsing into the nearest chair. Her eyes falling on Jeremy, awkwardly standing in the corner. No longer buzzing with excitement but now holding a look of sympathy.

Wynonna Earp craved sympathy from no one.

“Nothin’ to see here, Junior,” she said. Grabbing a beer and waving Jeremy off. “Run along.”

“Are you sure you want to be alone?” he asked, unfairly nice to a person like her.

“I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fine.”

“Hi, hello, I’m Wynonna Earp, nice to meet you!”

“She’s not mad at you, you know. Waverly _loves_ you.”

If that were true, deep in her heart, Wynonna wouldn’t have this stupid fairy tale curse any longer. Her body coughed as a cruel reminder. “How could she possibly love someone who was never, _ever_ there in her life? Huh? Tell me that. Explain to me, genius guy. I have missed _everything_ in that girl’s life. Not because I couldn’t be there, no. Because I _chose_ not to be there.”

Jeremy didn’t flinch, not as Wynonna’s tone grew with rage. Not once. “Sometimes,” he said, “it’s just where life takes you. It’s hard adjusting back, I get that. It just takes time.”

Seemed like wise man was speaking personally.

“But,” he continued, “I don’t think you could ever make Waverly hate you.”

Then why the hell was she still cursed? Either way, Wynonna could agree, “Waverly is special. Waverly’s _love_ is special. Whatever loser she decides to end up with some day better damn well deserve it. And they’d better be there, no matter what.”

-

The way Nicole rushed into the room startled Waverly. In a flurry, rushing the door to be locked. 

“Are you okay?” Waverly asked. “You know what, I’m saying something to Wyno—”

“No, no, I don’t care about that.” Nicole was out of breath as she stumbled closer. “I-I need the-the charging cable—”

“Lay down, lay down.”

Waverly quite literally dropped her research to help Nicole get on the bed. Rushing afterwards to grab the two sets of cables, immediately jamming one into the port installed in Nicole’s sternum. It was a long minute, watching Nicole’s breathing slow, until they were in the clear. 

“I waited way too long.” Nicole felt stupid. Two years she had these things now. Should’ve been more on top of things. “I was stupid, I—”

“Babe,” Waverly said, plugging the next charging port in Nicole’s left hip, “we’re on a treasure hunt in space. We’ve been a little distracted. You are forgiven.”

“I’m a—No, please, not the notes.”

Weekly reports, for Nicole’s old military doctor. Doctor Shae Pressman, a field doctor whose life Nicole saved. She returned the favor by returning to Earth’s in-orbit medical station to treat Nicole. They weren’t paying her right now, because she wasn’t asking for money. Just wanted to check in since Nicole’s emergency surgery. 

“We need to do it, Nicole,” Waverly scolded. 

Nicole threw a pillow over her own face. 

“How are you feeling right now?”

“Like the lamest possible version of a sci-fi cyborg,” a voice from under the pillow mumbled. Suddenly the pillow was flung away. “Don’t write that down!”

“I’m about to write ‘patient is being extremely difficult’.”

Pillow returned. “Just write down the usual stuff.”

“ ‘Patient wants symptoms to be forged’—”

“Waverly—”

“Nicole.”

The pillow was surrendered at _that_ tone. “Fine. My pain is a six out of ten. Lumbar achiness. Same spot in my neck hurts and shoots down my arm. Legs went numb when I ran too fast. Bending hurts the most. Mid-back feels sore. Chest was fine until the charge went low, because I need to be charged like a damn robot and I am fucked for the rest of my—”

Nicole went ahead and stopped herself before she started talking ugly. Waverly sent the notes over, only so she could pull blankets over Nicole and lay with her until she calmed. 

Research ended up relocating to the bed. Nicole, fast asleep next to her, all the way up until her charges beeped an hour later. Didn’t even flinch. 

But when Waverly made to remove them, suddenly she was wide awake. Sliding her hand before Waverly could do anything. Waverly swatted her away. Apparently Nicole was too tired to fight. When all was done she rolled onto her side, closer to Waverly. Her arm looping around Waverly’s waist. 

“What’re you doin’?” Nicole asked, face smushed into a pillow. 

A long sigh was the initial response. Nicole hugged Waverly closer. 

Waverly felt to scream in frustration. 

“I’m reviewing all my notes on Josiah,” she explained. “There has to be a pattern in his travels; somewhere he passed frequently. Or somewhere he was searching? There has to be something here—we can’t be at a dead end already! There has to be an artifact, or a map, or something to tell me where he was and what he was doing. He _had_ to be looking for Wyatt II’s treasure vault at some point.”

“Too bad there isn’t an auctioning of Josiah’s riches,” Nicole mumbled, joking. 

“Yeah, a raffle of his ri—” But that was just it. “Oh my god, Nicole, that’s it! In 2136, the last year of Josiah’s career, his crew performed a mutiny. Remember?”

A quiet nod into her side. 

“They took most of his stuff. The government took the rest. And they made his old gear publicly accessible. Rich people eat that stuff up, Nicole! There really might be an actual auction of his stuff!”

There was frantic typing to follow. A crazed look of wonder on Waverly’s face. 

“Josiah spent the rest of his career and a chunk of his remaining money hunting his crew down. There _has_ to be something here, come on.”

It was another minute before Waverly released a victorious shriek. 

“Yes! Madison Wayne! She was a crewmember of Josiah’s. She kept a journal and it’s up for auction at the end of the week! Nicole, this is it, there’s got to be something to go on here! Yes! Maybe she can tell us what was going on. Yes!”

Nicole hummed into Waverly’s side. “I love your brain.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unfortunately for Wynonna, I have no shortage of love for Elton John,,, (or space-themed songs, for that matter)
> 
> I'd just like to take a moment to say thanks for reading. Thanks for all the nice kudos and the wonderful comments. I had no idea if this concept was going to be a vibe or a "bruh what the hell you on about", so like. Glad y'all liked! Y'all's comments give me the perfect boost of energy and motivation to keep going. I deeply appreciate them. I apologize for not replying to them, I've just been busy running around lately. I think for the most part I'm planning on letting this fic have an honest count. Unless of course, someone is asking a question, then I will be happy to reply an answer. 
> 
> I feel the pirate shootout had a bit of an Uncharted 1 vibe, and if you're familiar, the next chapter will have some Uncharted 4 vibes. In other terms, next time the team will head out to an auction at a fancy estate. There may or may not be certain redheads in suits included with this...
> 
> (You can also expect a certain fur coat to be there)
> 
> As always, thank you for reading, and thank you for taking this adventure with me. Back for more fun in chapter three.
> 
> Sunken ships make me feel some sort of way....
> 
> Songs used in this chapter:  
> [Rocket Man (I Think It's Going to Be a Long, Long Time) - Elton John](https://open.spotify.com/track/3gdewACMIVMEWVbyb8O9sY?si=HZkiS03GTtiQ3oiynLfIdw)  
> [Wanted Dead or Alive - Bon Jovi](https://open.spotify.com/track/0oerlffJSzhRVvtDfLcp3N?si=fa-ztf50RV2con6OK0F1kw)  
> [My Girl - The Temptations](https://open.spotify.com/track/6RrXd9Hph4hYR4bf3dbM6H?si=5N8EVgPxTXabUllWtOOT9w)


	3. Formalities

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *enters, disheveled* writing chapter three was not a Vibe
> 
> Something about this chapter was not flowing with me. Not really sure what it was, so I do apologize for the long wait. Getting this chapter done and trying to plan out the rest for some reason just… wasn’t happening. But! Luckily everything sorted itself out and here we are, back in business. Thank you for your patience. I’m completely confident in where this story is going now and am even more excited to share it with you lovely folks.
> 
> I’d like to say updates will be faster thanks to this but my work schedule (no quarantine for this bitch) changes at a moment’s notice so… we’ll see… I’m also taking a 12-week business productivity course as well, so… we’ll friggin’ see… *screaming noise*

Space Orbit, Nestore.

Galaxy 17.

11:32 a.m., Nestore Capital Time.

Massimiliano Nestore. One of the great explorers of the 2090s, among the first humans to freely explore the untouched galaxies of the universe, all thanks to the big technological boom in 2040. Humans looking to space as a solution after a global climate disaster, one that, surprisingly, managed to go away after mankind actually worked together. Suddenly the public loved space exploration again. A second space race broke out. Technology advanced at the highest speed it ever had before. By the end of the decade, regular civilians were owning their own space crafts and heading their own outer space launches. 

He performed the same claim as everyone else. Land first on an untouched planet, automatically gain full rights. If the government decided the land was useful (profitable) enough, it was integrated into the Galactic Republic. The explorer’s family name became the coded planet’s new name. Another wonderful star on the map of humanity.

Massimiliano wasn’t after power. Wasn’t after riches, or a new land where his say was law. According to Waverly, in an explanation so long Wynonna began to doze off, the explorer was just a simple man trying to get some peace and quiet from rowdy in-laws. The first and most important law of the land was _No god damned Darios allowed._ Nestore sprouted into one of the richest planets in the Republic.

And yet, it was no safer than lawless Planet X-214.

The Earps were the prime example not everyone got rich honestly. This auction, held in one of Nestore’s biggest estates, was not going to be attended by people who played fair.

Luckily Team Earp had two former criminals in its ranks. And after days floating around in space, waiting around for this damned auction to start, Wynonna Earp was beyond ready to get back in the game.

However, there was one, teeny tiny problem with being a criminal: the law was always on her tail. Nicole’s record was clean now. Wynonna’s was not. Entering an inhabited planet would be tricky. The annoying thing about civilization was they were always keeping tabs on the criminals to “keep the peace”, and “keep people safe”, and “keep people from getting murdered or robbed” and blah, blah. Sneaking in or past the orbital blockade would get them all shot down by the Orbital Defense Force. There was only one real option, really.

“Ta-da.”

To the group, the day they were to land, Wynonna presented one of many fake IDs in her possession.

“From this point forward,” she explained, “call me ‘Lauretta Crispino’.”

Nicole laughed. “It’s better than ‘Mega F. Art’, I guess.”

An amused smile crept upon Wynonna’s face. “We were just amateurs, back then.”

Nicole swiped the ID for a moment. “Lauretta’s blonde, huh? Does that mean you still have that old projector?”

“Yep.” On her elbows, Wynonna leaned over the table half the team sat, looking right at her little sister. “Yours might be a problem, too. Yours has ‘Earp’ on it; they won’t like that.”

The fake ID was tossed back to Wynonna. Nicole reached to another end of the table, grabbing Waverly's wallet. Showing off the fact it said “Waverly” and “Haught” on it.

Wynonna grabbed and inspected it, closely.

“You’re welcome to be a Haught, too, Wynonna.” Nicole offered. By this point Waverly was looking to slap her. Could she be any more _obvious?_

“Come on, Haught,” Wynonna said, unfazed, “we all know you’re an Earp, not the other way around.” She tossed the ID back to the wallet. “You’ve been getting better at forgery. How many insurance goons have you been scamming the past couple years, huh?”

“Not enough. Not nearly enough.”

“Dumb idea. But that ID will work. To Space Italy we go, then.”

The second Wynonna turned around, Waverly smacked Nicole’s arm. Whispering threats.

All Nicole did in response was wink.

-

There was another song about space and being in space playing.

_I leave this Earth with no regrets…_

Lining up to be inspected before entry, the team got together to make their plans.

_I’m gonna rocket to the moon…_

But not without distraction first.

“Haught, I swear to god I’m going to break that radio.”

Nicole glared at Wynonna. “Don’t touch my radio.”

“It’ll be a mercy kill. The only crap you play on that thing—”

“It’s good music!”

“I think we understand we’re in space, Haught, I swear to—”

“Get your own radio and maybe then you can—”

“Wait a second.” Jeremy interrupted, as if the two adult children in front of him weren’t bickering at all. “It’s black tie only. Did anyone even pack formal wear?”

Arms crossed, Wynonna muttered, “I’m sure Haught’s radio has that, too.”

She received a glare in return.

“There’s time,” Waverly spoke over the two, slightly annoyed. “We can go shopping in the capital.”

Nicole raised a brow. “The capital? Do we even have enough money left?”

Something shifted in Waverly, some type of sadness that made Nicole feel stupid for even asking. “Well, we have some wiggle room—”

“We’ll be fine,” Wynonna interjected.

“Hey, looks like we’re next.”

Nicole was not a fan of the look Waverly was giving her. Not that she understood why it even existed right now.

Then she saw her wife looking out the window with wide eyes and the realization hit her. Waverly wasn’t just here for some treasure. This wasn’t about her married-in debts. She was here to _explore._

Nicole was sick to her core of being broke.

She poked her head out the pilot’s pit, looking directly at Waverly. “Hey.”

Waverly looked over, only _slightly_ startled at the sudden action.

“I know just what mall to take you.”

A small smile sprouted on Waverly’s face. It didn’t leave after she looked away, and it certainly didn’t leave when her eyes fell on the planet before them. Her second, non-Earth planet in this grand adventure she was taking.

-

Wynonna installed her temporary hair dye, a scanner in the shape of a simple hair pin. Scanning her brunette hair and projecting a convincing blonde color over it. She tucked the pin in the front portion of her bangs. 

Orbital Defense Force boots stepped onto their ship. Looking around routinely, inspecting for anything undesirable. Heat scanners telling them if stowaways were hiding anywhere. It was all stone faces until the IDs were passed around. Nicole and Jeremy’s veteran stamps really moved things along from there. They barely even looked at Wynonna’s ID, even less at Wynonna herself. Didn’t even scan her fingerprints or examine the digital file she built for this fake identity.

Poor Nestore probably had worse criminals crawling about.

Nicole’s new buddies directed her to land the ship in a secure yard in Nestore’s capital city of Celso.

Stone buildings with marble floors. The sun’s shine beaming off every waxed tile and shining back into Waverly’s face at every angle. Statues of Massimiliano Nestore, professionally made by the best hands and minds in all the galaxies.

Waverly stood in place and stared, forgetting her jaw on the ground. Taking in every detail of the giant city staring her back in her small town eyes.

Maybe Wynonna was right; maybe Purgatory _was_ a shit hole.

Nicole observed her in her wonder, a wondrous and loving smile of her own. “Ready to see the rest, babe?”

The wide grin on Waverly’s face did not leave, as she shook her head. “I don’t think I’ll be able to _take_ it.” Her voice quiet. 

Nicole offered her hand. Wynonna and Jeremy already elsewhere, walking off to call a cab. “Good thing I’m here, then.”

“Did you really get to see places like this?” Hand in hand, they began to walk off together. “All the time? Like, every day?” The wonder in Waverly’s eyes did not fade.

“Yeah.”

“Wow.”

“It was hard to enjoy, though. We were on the run, usually. Or we were only in town for a heist and had to leave quick. And, you know, I’ve never had a beautiful lady to share it with.” Making sure to add a wink that made Waverly’s smile grow bigger.

“Nicole Haught, you are a smooth one.”

“Hey, now.” Nicole showed the ring hanging on the chain around her neck, tucked into her shirt. “I’m a married woman.”

-

Celso, Nestore.

Galaxy 17.

1:11 p.m., Nestore Capital Time.

The mall held even more stone walls, pillars, statues, and shiny marble floors. It all made Waverly feel like some dreadful peasant bowing before the queen. All the pretty faces and armfuls of merchandise in shoppers’ grasp didn’t help, either. Reminded her of high school, being the poor kid in a building of well-off teens who partied every night and never had to worry about wearing clothes that belonged to someone else previously. No bills weighing them down, like some rude glimpse into her future. Then Nicole reached out and squeezed her hand, and suddenly she was in a state of wonder again. How the hell Nicole detected her negative thoughts like an airport dog on drugs was a mystery.

It was the same thing in the clothing store. Looks of comfort. Passing jokes when Waverly began to wander again. Covering the price tag when she looked for too long (though she was certain she saw Nicole doing the same and worrying the same).

Maybe it was the Earp blood, but Waverly was starting to see it. Believe it. They all deserved a better life than this. A better life than drowning in bills and checking for the cheapest thing in the store.

They deserved more than Ward Earp sinking the rest of his money into finding Wyatt II’s vault, dying and taking Willa with him. Willa, who didn’t even want to go on the damn trip in the first place, and now she was—

Waverly stopped, on her own. Staring back at herself in the dressing room. The loveliest dress twenty Points could buy, her only companion in here.

Maybe, deep down, she wasn’t in this for the sights. Maybe she really was in it for the money.

-

Nicole and her folded-up simple suit sat outside the dressing room, waiting for Waverly. No dressing room shenanigans today. Money stress wasn’t really a turn on.

She was easily broken from these thoughts when Wynonna walked next to her and dumped a second suit on her lap.

“I already have one,” Nicole said, confused.

“Good for you. it’s for _me_ , dummy. That place is full of liars, cheaters, and assholes like me—you really think I’m gonna wear a dress? Can’t defend myself.”

It was sound. Not that Nicole could get a word in before Wynonna sat in front of her and began talking again.

“I’ve been looking at maps of this place all night. I know where we can sneak in.”

They didn’t exactly have invitations to a super exclusive rich people auction. Had to improvise. Problem was the place was full of crooks and was well-watched, in case of other well-rounded crooks.

Nicole found herself laughing at the idea of Wynonna Earp doing this much homework. “So you only put in the effort when it has to do with shiny treasures, huh?”

“Never work for free, Haught.” On a tablet owned by the team’s other Earp, Wynonna showed Nicole the blueprints of the estate. “Look. See this window here?”

“Yep.”

“That’s our way in. but someone has to climb around the cliff. They can throw a rope down from the window and let the others in. I was thinking us? Partnering up on this one, like we used to?”

There was some sort of hesitation to Nicole, at the question. Not out of fear. Wynonna saw her rubbing at her thigh. Left side, just under her upgrade and charging port for her leg implants. Her restrictions were keeping her back. Or, perhaps, it _was_ her fear?

“Come on, Haught. You and me, just like the good old days.”

“The good old days of us getting arrested?” Nicole scoffed. 

“Yep. Some times, right? Come on, Haught.” Wynonna nudged her old friend, more stars in her eyes than the sky itself.

The one thing Nicole could never seem to do was turn down an Earp. “Fine, okay. We’ll do it, together.”

A wide grin on Wynonna’s lips, her dimples popping under fake blonde hair. Happy as a kid in a candy store. “Hell yes, Haught.”

“Wait,” Nicole paused. “Question.”

“Yes, this is Google, how may I help you?”

Nicole chose to ignore that. “How are we actually _stealing_ it?”

“Easy. Jump in through the window, sneak into the store room, grab the journal, leave the same way we came.”

“They _know_ people like us.How will we sneak past security? How do we get into the storeroom? They won’t just leave the place open. You _know_ there will be keys and locked doors.”

“We’ll see when we get there.”

“No,” Nicole sat forward, “we’ll figure it out now.”

“Haught, I don’t have a friggin’ outline of the door locks. Could be electronic keys, could be fingerprint scanners, could be old school, I don’t know.”

“Where do we escape? Running back to the third floor will take long enough for them to catch on.”

“We’ll see how it goes.”

Last time there was no escape plan, one of them was arrested and sent back home to Purgatory. Too much focus on the prize and not enough focus on _leaving_ with the prize. 

The lack of real, concrete planning was beginning to make Nicole nervous. She was fine with getting caught. She already had a record. But Jeremy and Waverly didn’t, and they didn’t deserve to open one. It almost felt like Wynonna wasn’t putting in the effort, after all. 

Nicole sighed, growing frustrated. “It’s not just us anymore, Wynonna. We need a real plan; we have Jeremy and Waverly to worry about.”

Something ticked off in Wynonna. “I don’t need you to worry about my sister.”

Something defensive ticked off in Nicole. “Someone has to.”

A cough erupted out of Wynonna. “Fine. I’ll go figure this out. I’ll be outside.”

Nicole watched her walk out, coughing once more on the way as she went. The nerves for this job began to settle in. Maybe they should do this without Waverly and Jeremy. They were going to an estate, full of wrongful people who stopped at nothing to get rich. No telling—

“I hope you’re not rethinking this, over there.”

Snapped out of her thoughts by her mind-reading wife. A woman who also looked unfairly stunning in a dress.

“Because we’re a team and you’d never go do something dangerous without your _wife.”_

Nicole couldn’t really defend herself. The dress—it was mostly because of the stupid dress. No, it was _entirely_ because of the stupid dress.

“Hello? Earth to stupidly brave spouse?”

Nicole only blinked.

“Spouse has left the building,” Jeremy laughed, walking onto the scene. A red suit in his hand, folded up.

“Spouse has left the building,” Nicole agreed. She shook her head, focusing and breaking out of whatever the hell it was going on in there. “I’m starting to rethink this.”

Waverly immediately fell on the defensive. “No, don’t you dare say it—”

“I can’t let you two go in there! It’s—”

“Hey,” Jeremy waved his wallet in his free hand, “I’m a vet! I’ve seen worse!”

“Sure, but Waverly—”

“I dated Champ Hardy for two years!” she said, crossing her arms. “I can handle anything!”

Nicole gave her a stern look. “Waverly, these people are no good. They’re crooks and cheaters. We’re going in to steal something—they won’t let that go easily.”

“Which is why we can’t let you two idiots go alone.”

“No, it’s why I can’t let _you two_ go in at all.”

Waverly stepped closer, in a way that made Nicole feel she was about to lose. “We’re not splitting up. We’re not. We do this as a team, or not at all.”

Jeremy stepped closer, in unity. Fumbling to cross his arms in the same fashion given the items he was carrying. Agreeing, “Together.”

“I love you both too much,” Nicole sighed. “I can’t have anything happen.”

Waverly softened. “How do you think we feel?”

Nicole sighed again.

They were going, whether she liked it or not.

-

It was always a good thing to be out. In all senses of the word.

When on the ship, everyone seemed to go their separate ways. Jeremy, chatting in his room with Robin. Wynonna, hiding in hers. Waverly and Nicole, hiding in theirs. There wasn’t much communication going on between this set of people meant to be a team.

Waverly had the perfect solution to that.

“Let’s have lunch!”

Bringing them to an Italian-themed restaurant on a generally Italian-themed planet. Not that anyone minded a little carbs.

Waverly was successful in sliding into the subject of her sister’s past adventures; her drifter life before she came back to Purgatory.

There were grand tales. There were embarrassing tales. Certain details Waverly could not trust as truth, simply because they were too unbelievable. Her sister was out there, exploring the world, getting into trouble, living a free life. While she was stuck in Purgatory. Teaching history instead of exploring it for herself.

“Honestly,” Wynonna continued, reaching over to Waverly’s plate to steal a bite of her food, “I wouldn’t be surprised if I knew a few assholes at the thing tonight.”

“What about bounty hunters?” It was the first time Nicole spoke since the clothing store. Wynonna thought it was _her_ fault. Waverly and Jeremy thought _they_ were responsible. “You know they like crashing these places; finding the person with the highest price over their head.”

Under the table, Waverly put a hand to Nicole’s thigh. She was quiet because she was stressed, not because she was mad.

Sometimes it was hard to believe Nicole was something like these criminals. Something like Wynonna; a directionless drifter, jumping town to town, taking whatever she wanted and seeing whatever she wanted. Funny, how people can change.

“Let’s just make sure to lay low tonight,” Waverly said. Squeezing Nicole’s thigh reassuringly. “In and out; get the journal and leave before anyone can realize what happened.”

-

Calvino, Nestore.

Galaxy 17.

4:53 p.m., Nestore Capital Time.

It was more of the same on the train ride over.

The shuttle traveling over Nestore’s extensive desert of Calvino, the early night breeze whispering against the windows, only seemed to heighten the nerves. Waverly watched Nicole’s foot tap in the most un-We’re-On-A-Grand-Treasure-Hunt-Like-In-the-Movies way possible.

Nicole looked out the window, but found nothing to stare at. Nothing but the fast pace of the land, moving at an uncaring blur. She felt her foot tap faster.

She was about to take her wife and her best friend to steal a high-listed item in an estate of people who’d never played fair in their lives. How was she _not_ to worry?

Waverly felt the same on her side. She’d never admit to Nicole, but the thought of her disabled wife trying to do the same wasn’t something she was eager to sit around on the ship helplessly for. Those implants weren’t always on Nicole’s side.

As if connected, they sighed at the same time. They were a team. They were doing this together, no matter how much the other disagreed on the execution.

“Oi!”

Both Nicole and Waverly snapped back to reality. Finding Wynonna, shouting at them across their private train car. Jeremy, obliviously and happily listening to music with his headphones.

“What’s with the doom and gloom, weirdos? We’re about to steal shit! A friggin’ heist!”

Nicole smiled, “Like _Ocean’s Eight.”_

Wynonna frowned, “Please don’t bring that old crap into my heist hype.”

“No, no, I think you’d actually like that one.”

“What’s it about, counting fish? Sounds boring.”

“No, it’s about these women stealing a necklace—”

“A necklace? What is this, amateur hour?”

“You’d really—”

“I mean really, what’ll they do with it, pass it around on date night?”

“Wynonna!”

The two, going back and forth the entire ride, bickering like old times. Jeremy turned his music up, but Waverly simply watched the conversation. Didn’t matter they were arguing. It mattered they were all here, together, in a position to argue in the first place.

It hit Waverly with a realization that made her feel childish and stupid.

Didn’t matter how many planets she saw. Didn’t matter how many cool action movie things she did, how many pirate ship masts she’d swing from as bullets flew. Didn’t matter. It wasn’t the action movie adventure she was missing in her life, it was someone to spend adventures with. She and Nicole weren’t in a position to go out much. They could barely afford a night of takeout without feeling the hit.

No, this was it. _This_ was the adventure she was missing: her family, all in one place. Whether they were bickering or sharing a meal. They were together.

She finally got to spend _time_ with them.

-

Ciro, Nestore.

Galaxy 17.

8:01 p.m., Nestore Eastern Desert Time.

“It is eight o’clock local time, let’s hurry it up.”

“Your face needs to hurry it up.”

“Wynonna.”

“Nicole.”

Waverly changed her mind. The bickering was growing old, quickly. “Stop it, you two,” she said. They both grunted at one another in frustration.

They had one hour to sneak in, change, and blend with the crowd. Look and feel like fancy douchebags before stealing from the fancy douchebags and bolting. Auction started late at night, at around nine. Already lost two hours to the time zone change. The journal wasn’t going up for bidding until the end. Plenty of time to sneak in, gain a read on the crowd, and do their thing. An easy swipe; break into the holding room, steal the journal, leave out the nearest window or hell, even the front door.

The window they were using to enter was in plain sight. Bunch of estate guards patrolling it. Waverly sighed against the binoculars showing them to her, infrared heat labeling every soul who prowled the grounds.

“This might be difficult,” she said. She passed the binoculars off to Jeremy, who came to the same assessment.

Wynonna was not swayed by the odds. “Come on, Wave, have a little faith. Nothing can stop an Earp.”

“Especially two Earps,” Waverly agreed, though it was with a doubting sigh.

“Good.” Excitedly, a kid in a candy store, Wynonna began to _skip_ off. “Let’s get going!”

Nicole grumbled at the sight. “Awfully pleasant when she isn’t insulting Sandra Bullock.”

It was a descent down a short hill and a long detour around the back in order to enter the Doriano Estate illegitimately. Earps were never ones for the rules. Namely, for a certain Earp and her Earp-adjacent partner in crime.

The break-in plan was explained again. Wynonna and Nicole were going to do the heavy work; the heavy climbing. They were going to go around and up the hard way, and let Jeremy and Waverly in after dropping a rope for them. The only point of entry they could utilize was a window with a balcony—on the estate’s third floor.

“Try not to rip each other’s heads off,” Waverly said.

“Come on, now,” Nicole replied, smirking in a way that already made both Earps upset, “I don’t play rough unless the lady _asks_ for it.”

Wynonna shoved her, before beginning without her. Nicole took a moment to grin at Waverly, who shook her head disapprovingly.

To the left, a raised wall. Tall grass mixed with white flower petals, for as wide as they could grow. That was the entry point of this heist. Wynonna stood, her fingers interlocked to boost Nicole up.

She was surprised when Nicole had them switch positions. Nicole was the better climber. The better lookout, when they broke into places. All Wynonna was good for was when they got caught. (Usually ended up being her fault, anyhow.)

“If there’s someone up there,” Nicole explained, sensing the confusion, “you move a lot faster than me. I _promise_ you.”

“Fine.”

Nicole’s shaky hands and quiet grunts of exertion were nothing like the good ol’ days. Absolutely nothing. For once, Wynonna had a filter in what she said and didn’t comment on how “old” Nicole had gotten. Or the fact she wasn’t kidding when she said “slow”; if anyone was around, they would’ve been made, by now. Pulling her up wasn’t easy, either. Took a while, on her end, and more than enough effort.

Just how messed up _was_ Nicole? How long was she out, before the implants?

Why wasn’t Wynonna by her friend’s side, helping her through all this?

“I know what you’re thinking, and I’d like you to stop it.”

Figures. Grow up with someone, and they learn how to read your mind. Wynonna sighed, “I should’ve been there. I should’ve been there for a lot of things, you’re right.”

Nicole thought of her wedding. There was no Best Woman, because that position was reserved for her best friend. “Doesn’t matter. You’re here now. Back for more adventures. Which we can’t continue until . . .” She motioned along, for the next climb, her fingers already interlocked for Wynonna to step onto.

“Right.” Wynonna did not move a single step.

“Oh, don’t give me _that_ look, Earp.”

“When Lou’s boys and the cops were closing in on us, I left you behind. You got arrested. I could’ve helped you, but I ran. Doesn’t that make you mad?”

Nicole relaxed. “You know we’re on a time limit, right?”

“A real friend wouldn’t do something like that.”

Nicole rolled her eyes, like the conversation was nothing. Chuckling to herself. “You’re not some friend, Wynonna, you’re my sister. Now come on, dummy, let’s get going.”

“Well that just makes it worse, then!”

Now, Nicole was serious. “It’s fine.”

Wynonna only stared back at her, a self-revolved frustration to her. The pain in her chest the worst she’d ever felt.

“Come on, Wynonna. A lot of people in my life have disappointed me. You are not one of them.” The part where she missed the wedding hurt, sure, but the statement still stood. “We have been through a lot together. And honestly, I’m happy it happened. You know how much I hated running. Hated keeping my head on a swivel every second of the day. Getting sent back home—that was good for me. I settled down. I have a house, I have a career, I have a wonderful w—I have a lot. A lot more than I’ve ever had. And even if I didn’t, I wouldn’t hold it against you.”

The pain in Wynonna’s chest only proved wrong. If Nicole felt that way, deep inside, this damn curse would be gone and done. No more chest pain. No more coughing, no more sickness.

Nicole did think about the wedding again. Spending the day looking over her shoulder, hoping Wynonna would magically appear. At her own wedding, she wasn’t focused. She was wondering, worrying whether or not her lifelong friend was even alive.

She needed to stop thinking like that; they were wasting time.

Nicole motioned Wynonna along. “Now, if the notorious Wynonna Earp is done spilling her feelings . . .”

A playful roll of the eyes, one that helped calm the air again. “Yeah, yeah, I’m coming.”

-

“Hmm. That is a whole ass rockface.”

Nicole sighed, “Yep.”

Between them and the only climbable entry to the floor above, was an empty canyon. The cliff the estate sat on, leading right up to the floor they sought. Reach the first floor rooftops, travel the second floor walkway, reach the short balcony of the third floor window they wanted to enter. Simple, right? Just scaling a rockface? Avoiding a bunch of patrolling goons with guns and flashlights?

Wynonna handed one of their ropes to Nicole. Grapple claw tied to one end. “Still remember how to climb?”

Accepting, Nicole nodded, her eyes not leaving the cliff. “I still go hiking from time to time.”

Wynonna nudged her. “Hey, remember that one night in Malta?”

“Please don’t bring that up ever again,” Nicole groaned.

“Just _had_ to seduce the mayor’s daughter, huh?”

“What exactly are you getting at?”

It was a few moments of listening to Wynonna’s childish laughter before the reply finally came. “If you can climb out the side of someone’s house as they shoot at you for banging their daughter, I think you can manage a bare cliff.”

Nicole began to swing the rope around, finding the perfect point under an archway to latch on to. “God, we had a weird young adult life.”

Wynonna patted Nicole’s shoulder. “I believe in you, Haught. Now don’t fall to your death.”

“Great. Thanks for that. Real helpful.”

Another pat to the shoulder. “My pleasure.”

One last look at the rockface before her. Nicole took a breath. “If I die, don’t touch my radio.”

Then she was off, making sure the rope could secure her weight before jumping into the chasm before them. Remembering, as she swung back and forth, certain doom instant if she were to slip, just how horrifying and nerve-wracking this adventure life was.

(She missed this life.)

There were perfect handholds against the rock, calling out to her. She landed with no trouble, grappling onto a longer ledge, her fingers gripping onto the rock tightly. Pulling the rope back into her possession, tucking it away for use later. She moved to grip the next the same, her boots pushed strongly against the wall to hold her balance.

This life did not miss her, she realized, as pain immediately shot into her arm. She bit her tongue, so as to not worry Wynonna. There was no turning back now. she pushed ahead.

“You’ve been through worse than this,” she mumbled against stone. “This is nothing.”

Shaking, her right arm raised, making to grasp for the next handhold. A burning, numbing sensation piercing from her shoulder into her neck. The moonlight, watching her struggle stubbornly.

Wynonna made it over just in time to watch her struggle in her stubbornness, almost feeling the need to bite her nails in pure anxious worry. 

No. This was Nicole Haught. Nicole Haught was no quitter, no weakling. She could do this.

Nicole Haught advanced. Pulling herself up, slowly, her entire arm shaking, until she reached the estate’s walls again. Using exposed pipes and windowsills to pull herself along, all the way until she reached the roof with one final lift of her own weight.

She laughed. A third from misery, another from surprise, and the final in pure joy. Wynonna joined her shortly and rested next to her. 

“You know,” Nicole panted, laughing as much she could past burning shoulders and numbing muscle, “I think I really missed these life-threatening climbs.”

Wynonna couldn’t help but laugh, as well. “Are we masochists? Is that what this is?”

“Maybe,” Nicole huffed out. Her breaths slow to return as her spasming muscles took a moment to relax on their own.

“You good to go?” Wynonna turned to her. Nicole shook her head. 

“Just a second. Jeez, you get thrown around in a spaceship and it ages you a little, huh? Unfair.”

The smile on Wynonna’s face died down. “Yeah.”

Her tone made Nicole look over. Finding the same sad puppy expression as before. “I said it was fine.”

“How long were you out? Like—How long were you in the hospital, I guess.”

“A few months. Getting the implants extended it a little. After a few PT sessions they released me. Nedley wanted me to go home with him but Gus insisted.” Something about that horrible time in her life made Nicole smile. “That’s when I got close to Waverly.”

“And they made you pay for all that? Even though it was their fault you got hurt?” Wynonna was looking at her now.

“No, they paid for everything _until_ the implants. The work comp insurance wasn’t willing to cover it, and neither were private companies. No one has a policy for it anymore; implants were ruled too risky a few decades ago. Doctors don’t like them, and a whole line of malfunctions didn’t help their case.” Nicole sighed. Her eyes catching sight of the stars above. “You know me; I’d rather be out doing something than sitting in some wheelchair for the rest of my life.”

“I should’ve been there to help you.”

Nicole began to get back on her feet, at that. “It’s in the past.It’s _fine,_ Wynonna. Let’s get moving, come on.”

Wynonna stifled a cough. Everything was _not_ fine. If everything was fine, and deep down in her heart she held love for Wynonna, the curse would be gone. 

With a breath, Wynonna scraped herself off the ground and followed her partner. Hands outstretched for a boost. 

On the second level’s outer walkway, guards patrolled about. This was the next goal. Didn’t want to be the idiot thieves who got caught before the party even started.

Topside Wynonna found flower gardens, breaking the black of night with vibrant colors and sights, as if the nighttime pitch wasn’t present at all. Hopefully they didn’t mind being crushed, as Wynonna crouched for cover in them. There was one guy walking awfully close to the rooftop Nicole was waiting on under them. Wynonna yanked him by the neck and strangled him until he passed out. Tossing him aside and looking for something to help Nicole up. Normal people didn’t stand so stiffly. 

Large planks were resting on Wynonna’s left. Hole in the wall patch job. Who knows what drunken mishap could’ve gone on there. She lowered one down for Nicole to walk on, angling it perfectly so she wouldn’t slip and break her back all over again.

“I thought we were done with pirates and walking the plank,” Nicole joked. 

Wynonna shrugged. “You _are_ one for nostalgia.”

There was a chuckle from below before Nicole began to cross the plank. Arms outstretched for balance, though after so many years of breaking in and crossing over various weird and unusual surfaces, she barely needed to make the effort. Could’ve been walking down the street, at this point. Too bad it didn’t make her or Wynonna as rich beyond their wildest dreams as they hoped.

Not yet.

“Nothing like a good old fashioned move-the-ladder-slash-plank puzzle, huh?” 

Wynonna eyed her. “You get excited over really boring things.”

“Just give the old stuff a chance.”

“No, god damn you.”

-

Three guards, lazily waving their flashlights about as they patrolled, bored. One other, lounging against the window they planned to use. That post seemed more of a vantage point. Might pose a problem. The boom of Wynonna’s older gun would not aid them. Nicole didn’t bring one, at all. Stealth mode or bust. They could totally do this. Probably.

The three patrolling were no problem. Pacing in the same patterns, picked off one by one. It was the guy in their window they were worried about. The longer Nicole looked at it, the more possibilities she saw for them to be caught. He was the only patrol who actually seemed awake and alert. Head on a swivel. Eyes wide open. 

They could climb up to the balcony and knock him out from there. Only luck would decide if he’d see them or not.

“I’ll take this one,” Wynonna declared. Nicole’s eyes left the scene.

“What? No, I can do it.”

“Just let me handle this one, Haught.”

“No. No, I can do it.”

“Haught—”

Nicole was off before the argument could fester. Wynonna, watching and feeling the need to bite her nails in worry again. Felt like she was letting Nicole go out and hurt herself.

It was a quick start against the side of the building, before it dove into a rapid slow down. She couldn’t tell if Nicole was forced to do so and wanted to stubbornly push through it, or if she was aware of her obvious extreme pain and decided to take it slow. Perhaps growing to regret her stubborn choices. 

Wynonna laughed. If anything, she’d make the perfect Earp.

With a loud grunt, Nicole hoisted herself over the balcony, grabbed the guard’s gun, and knocked him out with it in one swift motion. Wynonna climbed to join her. Nicole threw one rope over, holding it steady for Waverly and Jeremy. They tied the bag with all their clothes first for Nicole to pull up. She eyed Wynonna the whole time.

“See? Perfectly easy.”

Wynonna glared at her. “Whatever you say, you sweaty fool.”

-

This was just plain unfair. Staring at the Earp sisters, dressed up the way they were, fancied up for a heist, one in a dress and the other in a suit, Nicole decided, _this just wasn’t fair, man._ The genes in this damned family . . .

One sister in a dark navy blue suit, the collar and cuffs made of a silky material that would begin to shine the moment they stepped into light. The other, in a lighter blue dress, the straps a thin mark against her fair shoulders, the length stretching down her legs to her short heels. So god damn beautiful Nicole felt like a shrub.

Waverly caught her staring and nearly floored her with a wink.

“Hey, Earth to Haught!”

Damn it, Wynonna. Nicole shot back to reality. “What?”

“Are you ready? Can we go? Are you good? Do you need assistance?”

Nicole headed for the door. “Already ahead of you. Not my fault you take so long to change.”

Wynonna scoffed.

“Alright,” Nicole said, whispering amongst her group once they entered the party, “everyone split up. Try to blend in. When they start the event, Wynonna and I will make the swap; that’s when the security’s focus will change from the storeroom downstairs to the event up here.”

With a unison nod, the four split up. Shuffling around into the crowd, soaking in soft techno-jazz music (that Nicole immediately took a disliking to) and whatever bragging rich people conversations entered their ears.

It was the exact type of talk Nicole was expecting. _Why can’t poor people work harder?_ Because Nicole never worked hard, right? Waverly and Jeremy—they never worked hard either, right? _They deserve all their trouble._ She nearly took out the douche said that.

Didn’t matter. Soon she’d be richer than all the assholes in this room. Brought her _some_ sense of peace, at least.

Crossing the event area, massive enough to be its own home, Nicole found herself in a corner. Not a financial corner, for once, but a physical corner, where people danced to the music. She wondered if there was a moment to—

Someone grabbed her hand. Nicole immediately yanked it back, on the defensive, ready to fight—

Her wife, who was looking at her funny and laughing. “I can take you, Haught,” she said.

“I thought you were—Sorry, babe.”

Waverly took her hand again, and this time Nicole accepted it tenderly. “Quick dance?”

“Well,” Nicole smiled, already walking them over, “we should be blending in, after all.”

“Wouldn’t want to stand out,” Waverly agreed.

This was the most natural thing to them. Dancing in the kitchen, when the right song played during dinner. Dancing in the living room, after a long day. Hell, even dancing at the shop when Nicole stayed too late and Waverly sped down to drag her home. The idea of dancing here, far, far away from home, in a crowd of strangers, knowing full and well they were here to steal a journal—why, that was nothing.

They were swaying together, in a room full of strangers, and only managed to find each other.

“ _Wow,_ you look lovely,” Nicole whispered between them. “Just—wow.”

Waverly grinned, laughing again. “Apparently; I saw you staring. Wonder what was going on in that head, huh?”

The desired effect was not pulled from her statement; Nicole only seemed to tense up. Waverly’s hands moved upward, parting Nicole’s long hair from her eyes. Made looking into them easier.

“You’re really stressed out, babe,” she said, and the words only made Nicole sigh.

“It made me think about how much I love you. And now we’re here, dancing in a place we’re about to pull a heist in.” She made sure to keep her voice low towards the end.

“I’ll be fine, Nicole.”

“Last time one of us said something like that, they ended up paralyzed. I mean, my _god_ , what if something goes wrong? Then what? I mean—”

“Nicole, hey. Hey, everything will be alright, okay? You and Wynonna aren’t new to this. Jeremy is a vet. We can do this. Okay? We can do this, and we’re going to do it together. We can do this.”

“But—”

“This is not the most difficult or scariest thing we’ve ever done together. You have my back and I have yours; that is how this works. So shut your pretty face, alright?”

She managed to pull a smile out of Nicole. Nicole said, pulling the stars from the sky and shining them in her own eyes, “I think this is the part of the movie where I realize I have feelings for you.”

“How intimate of you.” Her hands relaxed on Nicole’s shoulders. “Are you sure this isn’t the part of the movie where I steal your wallet and run off?”

Nicole laughed. “Joke’s on you: there’s absolutely nothing in that wallet.”

-

The air was too dense. Too many people in one place. It was _impossible_ to breathe. Wynonna rushed out to the nearest balcony, soaking in the fresh air and coughing until her chest felt to break in half. Or shatter into a million pieces; she couldn’t decide just yet.

It was just so damn _painful._

She barely registered the motion of someone’s hand on her left, offering her a handkerchief as she hacked her lungs out over the balcony. She ignored it. In a place like this, it meant someone was about to ask her a favor. Or just be a creep.

“Don’t be stubborn, Miss Earp.”

Even the coughing ceased at that. Wynonna turned. To her left, clothed in formal wear somehow still topped off with a fur collar, was Bobo Del Rey.

He offered the handkerchief again. Wynonna took it and threw it over the balcony.

With one final cough, she declared, “Get the hell out of my face,” and returned to the party inside. Bobo followed. Uncaring of her warnings. She could hold a gun to his head and he’d merely laugh. “Whatever it is you want, I am not helping you.”

“I think we both know _you_ are the one who needs help,” he said, a smile to him so smug and so evil. “You aren’t sneaky, Wynonna, no matter what you think. I know exactly why you’re here, and I know you have a new crew. I saw little sister. I saw Haught. Doc Holliday.”

He stepped in closer, each slow step he took more menacing than the last. Wynonna simply froze in place, unsure what to do. A fool in the horror movie who gets murdered.

“Don’t think for a second you’re about to get the upper hand over me. This is _my_ gig. My men are everywhere. If you think for a god damned _second_ you are going to steal _my treasure_ from me, you little shit, you have _another thing_ —”

The idiot was raising his voice with each syllable of his threats, catching the attention of those around them. Wynonna still didn’t move. Not even as Bobo played everything off as a joke to get patrons to turn away again. Not even as it worked, and they went back to their business.

“Keep your filthy Earp hands off _my_ journal, understand me? This is my job. My treasure. It’s all mine—I _earned_ it.”

Wynonna only stared at him, unsure what to do other than pull her knife and cut him across the face.

“Atta girl, Earp.” He patted her on the shoulder as he walked away, happy and satisfied with himself. “Oh! And don’t forget to enjoy the event. The shrimp here is lovely.”

Then Bobo Del Rey was off, like nothing ever happened. Wynonna didn’t let a single breath of what the man said get to her. Couldn’t care less. However, he did mention Doc Holliday. She hadn’t rode with him in years.

Was Doc Holliday here?

Wynonna turned on the tiny communication device hidden in her ear, with the help of her falsely colored hair. “Haught. Haught, do you read?”

The answer was quick. “Yeah, what’s up?”

“Well, two things. I just ran into Bobo Del Rey, and I think Doc Holliday is here.”

“Why the hell would Doc Holliday be here? Bobo I get, but Doc? Are they working together?”

“Didn’t sound like it. Maybe Bobo made him an offer and he wants the treasure now. Who knows. That guy’s always mustache deep into these things, you know that.”

Waverly wished she could take a moment to call in and ask for the brief summary on who the hell Doc Holliday was meant to be, other than the name of a man from the first Wyatt Earp’s time. But, it was both not the right time, nor was there room to say it, as Jeremy called in a warning of his own. “Hey, guys, someone who looks an awful lot like Dolls is here. Identical.”

“Keep an eye on him, Jeremy,” Nicole instructed. “Wynonna, let’s get a head start on the journal.”

Across the estate, Wynonna nodded. “Roger. I’ll meet you downstairs.”

In the time Nicole Haught knew Jeremy Chetri, he never presented himself as a liar. She didn’t think he had the capability to do so, frankly. He was honest and upfront, even when the truth shook him to his bones and slurred his words to incoherent babbling. So when he called in to warn there was a man who looked identical to their military friend Xavier Dolls, who, by the latest reports was now a bounty hunter, she had every reason to believe him.

And yet, when she ran into bounty hunter Xavier Dolls in person, she could not manage to do so. There was just no way Dolls was actually here, while her teammate and oldest friend was still a highly wanted criminal currently trying to pay off her debts and retire from things such as bounty hunters who wanted her for the giant bounty she was struggling to pay off.

“Nicole Haught,” Xavier Dolls said, for the first time since she’d known him, in a surprised tone. Left hand fiddling with the button of his jacket. Right resting at his side. Both hands hidden completely under long sleeves and a pair of black leather gloves. “What are you doing here? You and Waverly, what are you two doing here?”

Waverly just smiled awkwardly. Nicole barely paid him attention. She mostly stared at the man standing with him. Identical all-black suit, standing with a bored expression on his face, his hands on his hips. No gloves. No need for gloves, unlike Dolls.

“Doc Holliday.” Maybe staying back a moment would be beneficial. See if Doc was working with Bobo. Hell, see if Bobo somehow managed to hire _Dolls._

“Ma’am,” Doc said, tipping the same hat he’d been wearing for as long as she’d known him. “A pleasure to see you again.”

“Yeah,” Nicole nodded. Studying the men suspiciously. “And to what do I owe this pleasure? Don’t tell me you two are dating. What would your wife think, Doc?”

Doc’s pleasant smile died. “I think my wife can go to hell, is what I think.”

Dolls had no smile at all. So some things were normal, at least. He explained, “I’m working with a government bounty hunting service called ‘Black Badge’. It’s a division of the Orbital Defense Forces, technically.”

Nicole nodded again, “I’ve heard of them.” Real covert operations with fancy technology, sort of people. Just the ones to hire when someone wants someone else to be made scarce. Made traditional freelance hunters look like children.

“Doc here is working off community service hours. We’re going after Bobo Del Rey. I know he’s at this party. See anything, Haught? You’re not working with him again, are you?”

She burst into laughter at the thought, earning her a weird look from Dolls. “God, no. Search the second floor. Maybe he’s scouting poor animals to skin for coats.”

“Thanks.” And with that, so easy, Dolls and Doc were off with quick steps and the tip of a hat.

Before Nicole could get a word out, the auction runners announced the presentation was about to begin. Lost their head start. At least there was the assurance Doc wasn’t working against them. Bobo on his own would be hard enough. If he recruited the fastest draw in the explored galaxies, they’d be beyond screwed. The thought of them possibly having to fight with Bobo made Nicole more nervous than she could handle right now. Waverly had to push her in order for her to focus on the task at hand.

-

Wynonna and Nicole were behind one of the locked doors in an instant. While Nicole was stalled by Dolls, Wynonna stole some poor employee’s key. Electronic card, nothing fancy. They lucked out.

There were no words, as they rushed down the stairs and into the basement. No need for words, and certainly no time for them. Storage room for the lot items was across the house, the basement being the quickest and most direct access.

Unfortunately, this also meant there were more patrols. Mean looking thugs with mean looking guns to match. Nicole didn’t have a gun. Wynonna’s was too loud. Stealth game style it was, then. Round two.

Sneaking past patrols in the hallways. Knocking out others. Moving as fast as they possibly could.

“Guys,” Waverly reported, “there’s a problem.”

Wynonna was not in the mood. “We’re on lunch break! Take your problems up with someone else!”

“I think they changed the order.”

Nicole stopped so suddenly Wynonna ran right into her.

“The journal isn’t supposed to be up here yet. Neither is this old English chalice or this Greek shield. This isn’t right.”

“Maybe they’re showing it off for the intro presentation?” Nicole was clinging onto her the last crumbs of hope in the barrel. They’d tell those in attendance the history of the items for sale in order to boost bids. Surely they were physically showing everything off, too? Some nice visuals for the selling point?

Waverly was beginning to grow impatient. “Then why did the lady say, ‘Up for sale next, an untouched journal from the crewmate of Josiah Earp’? Explain that, Commander!”

“Maybe she’s nervous!”

“Nicole! Do something!”

“I’m working on it!”

Wynonna suddenly smacked Nicole’s arm. “Haught! The power! We cut the power!”

“Y-yeah, okay, where’s the power room? Waverly, how much time do we have?”

“Bidding starts in ten minutes!” Waverly reported, not doing particularly well at hiding the panic in her voice.

Nicole turned back to Wynonna. “Back up generators?”

Wynonna nodded. “Few seconds to turn on. I cut it, you grab the journal?”

“Do you know where to go?”

“Well I accidentally memorized the stupid map, so yeah.”

Nicole was already headed back upstairs. “Cut the power! I’ll be in place to make the swipe.” Nicole indicated the rope from earlier, tucked away in her jacket pocket. “I’ll lasso the damn thing like in Waverly’s old western movies.”

She could feel Waverly’s smile from across the estate.

“Keep in touch, alright? We can do this.”

Wynonna began rushing off in the other direction. “Yeah, yeah, blah, blah, memorable-meaningful-quote, blah, blah, I’ll see you later!”

-

Wynonna sprinted down the hall without a care. Shoving guards against walls to knock them out. Throwing something one way and running the next. But the power room patrols were slightly more complicated. Heavier population than anywhere else. Cutting off the power wasn’t _that_ predictable a plan, was it?

Too bad she didn’t have any super cool spy gear. However, she did have a lighter she accidentally took from the employee’s pocket.

It would have to do.

A lovely silver plated piece, producing plenty of fire despite its small size. It burned strongly against a knocked out guard’s suit jacket. Wynonna started an indoor campfire in the furthest possible corner from her goal, tossing in more and more articles of clothing for fuel. Including her own jacket.

The diversion gave the exact results she wanted: immediately, patrols swarming the power room door cursed and ran for the burning pile. A bunch went to put it out. Others looked down the hall for the perp. Only one goon remained by the door. Wynonna knocked him unconscious, dragging him inside the room with her before locking it with the goon’s keycard. 

“Waverly. Come in, Agent Bratty Sister!”

“What is taking you so long!” None of that was phasing Waverly right this moment. If they weren’t under such pressure Wynonna might’ve taken advantage of it. “They’re almost done bidding! Bobo’s gonna take it home at this rate!”

“Tell Haught to get into place. I’m looking at the power panel right now.”

“Haught is in place, we’re waiting on you! Hurry up!”

Wynonna frowned. “You are a little shit under time pressure. Haught, get ready.”

Nicole reported in, rope secured in her hand, “Ready, Earp.”

Wynonna gripped the power grid’s off lever. “Here goes nothing, ladies and Jeremy.”

-

As the woman in charge of the bidding made the announcement Bobo Del Rey would fairly take home the prize they all sought, the power suddenly died. The digital journal, left alone on its pedestal. Nothing in front of or behind it. A lonely tablet and a stylus pen, standing on its own.

Suddenly gone when the red backup lights flashed on seconds later.

Bobo Del Rey was the first voice to complain. How convenient, something he bid so high on magically disappearing like that. Then his eye caught the corner of the room. Three bodies, rushing through a door.

The one with red hair, turning back to eye him and grin.

“Stop them! Stop those thieves!”

He rushed over to the door, pushing through person after person until he was within grasp of the handle. A guard beat him to it, pushing him away with their long gun and stone face.

“You’re letting them get away, you moron! Can’t you see they’ve stolen it?”

Raised the gun. A warning to back off. As he did, cursing.

Then he smiled like a wild and rabid wolf. “I’m not afraid of you. REAPERS, AFTER THEM!”

As things usually did with Bobo Del Rey, things exploded into chaos at an instant. Dozens of his planted men, pulling various weapons from their boots and letting loose. Innocent bystanders began to run. Guards manned their posts.

This was war. He did not come all this way to be stopped by a god damn Earp.

“Not again. Never again. Get those rats!”

There was one person in the crowd who was not innocent nor a bystander. He and his partner approached Bobo without the slightest hint of hesitation or fear.

“Deputy Marshal Xavier Dolls. You’re coming with me, Bobo Del Rey. Surrender quickly and your punish—”

Dolls immediately dove from the way of gunfire. His partner, laughing and already behind cover. Calling him a fool.

Dolls rushed to safety by their side, laser bullets flying everywhere.

“You see, Mister Dolls,” Doc Holliday said, amused to a degree that annoyed Dolls, “this is why you need scoundrels to defeat scoundrels; you need someone who can play dirty.” At the speed of light, faster than any bullet in the room, Doc pulled two pistols tucked away in his boots. “Now then, let the party begin.”

-

Jeremy rushed down the stairs so quickly he lost his footing and fell right into Nicole. Nicole bumped into Waverly. Waverly cussed them both.

“You seem a little stressed,” Nicole took the time to joke. A thing Waverly truly was not amused with. Nicole deflected whatever incoming threat there was by pulling Wynonna into the conversation. “Where the hell are you, Earp? We need to get out of here, now. We can steal a car and lay low in the desert. Take the train back to Celso and get out of here.”

“Just meet me out front! I’m on the side of the building right now!”

Nicole stopped in her tracks. “What? Why?”

“There are many people! Shooting at me! Shut up and let me focus! Dummy!”

“Just—don’t fall off the side of the building, please.”

“Shut up, dummy!”

“Okay,” Nicole turned to the others, “let’s get out of here. All these halls downstairs are connected. We can run through and exit closest to the front door. Hopefully they’ll have lost us by then.”

-

Outdoors, there was no nighttime peace. No stargazing. No feeling the desert air and letting the warm wind soak into cold bones. There was chaos, as Wynonna Earp climbed as fast as she could to the ground floor, bullets flying after her as she screamed bloody murder.

“Mistakes were made!”

The second she stepped out of the power room, every person she’d distracted with a simple hallway fire was staring back at her, flashlights and guns in hand. She flashed an unconvincing smile, a flirtatious _I got something better than a fire,_ and one final horrified shriek before running off. Peacemaker trying its best to protect her. The poor thing could only do so much. The estate, being atop a giant hill, had few windows.

Her grand escape plan of ditching the scene Nicole-in-Malta-style had failed miserably. The fact she was not a strong climber was really hitting, as well. Her lungs certainly didn’t agree with her, either.

The best hope was to hope no one shot her down and pray Nicole and the others got onto the scene quickly to help.

-

Nicole secured a gun for herself and a gun for Jeremy. A third for Waverly was pending. Not that she’d ever really held a gun before.

Crossing the hallways, as red lights flashed in the already dark-enough space. Bashing every guard’s head possible into the nearest wall. There was no room or time for mercy. They needed to leave. Nicole’s wife was in danger, too. _This_ was the exact reason she did not want Waverly or Jeremy here. Things like this were her and Wynonna’s specialty, not theirs.

When the time came to hand off a gun to Waverly, a huge part of Nicole felt hesitant. This was a permission. A permission to participate into the shootout they were surely about to enter, the second they crossed into the front of the estate for that getaway car. Waverly was going to get involved. Waverly was going to shoot and get shot at.

This was absolutely horrifying; Nicole had been to war and almost died, but this was the single most horrifying thing in her life.

Waverly squeezed her hand when they made the hand off. She knew. Of course she knew, because she felt the same way.

She squeezed Nicole’s hand once more, when they reached the door closest to the front. When Nicole paused, nervous to throw them all into the fray. 

With a deep breath, she finally yanked it open. The three rushed into the war zone that had become of the place.

Waverly followed Nicole right on her heels, the two finding safe cover behind a statue. Jeremy behind a smaller one. He was the first to point out Wynonna in the crowd, using a large table for cover. Blonde hair forgotten; no point in hiding now, right? The snacks and drinks sitting on said table thrown on the floor, some remains of them in Wynonna’s free hand. Who could ever say no to free snacks?

“Really?” Waverly called. “Right now? You have to eat those right now?”

“Isn’t like we’re sticking around, are we?” Wynonna yelled back. “All you guys have on board the ship is disgusting vegan crap!”

“It’s healthy for you!”

“It’s crap!”

“You could benefit from something healthy, for once!”

“This is the best shrimp I’ve ever tasted!”

A near bullet to the face shut Wynonna up for a moment. A _moment—_ this discussion wasn’t over just yet. When someone makes Wynonna Earp drop her shrimp, they accept death.

Meanwhile Nicole was wondering what the hell the plan was.

“Earp,” she inquired, “what are we—”

Wait a minute. Xavier Dolls was here. Shooting.

At Wynonna.

“I was halfway out the door when Bobo stuck this asshole on me and slipped out,” Wynonna explained, reading Nicole’s mind. A talent of the Earp sisters, apparently.

This shootout was currently Dolls versus Wynonna versus Bobo’s crew versus estate security, and Bobo’s crew versus Dolls versus Wynonna versus estate security. Had to be something they could do, here. A team up, maybe. If Dolls acted on Wynonna’s wanted status, she could pull something. Nicole _knew_ Dolls; giving him the slip wouldn’t be that difficult with the right touch. But how would she even get him on board?

With the greatest timing in the universe, more of Bobo’s men plowed through the building in cars of their own. Close enough to them. Left the engines running. Nicole thanked the fools for their help in escaping—they practically handed it to them!

Now they just had to figure out how to get over there.

Wynonna to their left. Dolls and Doc directly across from her, not too far across the room. Estate security hiding upstairs, shooting where it was safe for them to shoot. Bobo’s men, charging stupidly and “bravely” wherever they could, guns toting. No matter how long Nicole looked at it, she could not find the pattern.

One of Bobo’s men snuck up on her and Waverly. Nicole shot him before he could raise his gun. It was lucky she just so happened to see him while both her and Waverly were looking somewhere else.

They needed to get out of here _now._

She felt Waverly squeeze her hand. _Just breathe, you stressed out fool._

The new wave of Bobo’s men were overtaking most of the estate security. Even then her team and Dolls were becoming overwh—

That was the answer. Teaming up with Dolls _was_ the answer!

Nicole opened the deal by shooting the people on Dolls’s back. He looked over, not confused but surprised. Sure, they were old friends, but he was going after Wynonna. Nicole’s sister, with or without the marriage to Waverly. Then the realization seemed to hit him, as his expression changed. He didn’t seem too happy about helping a wanted criminal escape. But they all wanted to get out of here alive, didn’t they?

Two old soldiers at work. Two old partners, at work. Wynonna was directed by Nicole to move closer. There was room by Jeremy. They all covered her, as she charged through the remains of a peaceful event, skipping over dead bodies, a handful of shrimp in her left hand.

One piece on the board moved. Two others were still across the room. Four were in one corner of their own. Their target, all the way down the hall. Dolls and Doc were closest. The four needed to be the next pieces to be moved.

Jeremy was sent first. Dodging and diving his way from one safe zone to the next. Using boxing weaving on bullets. Arriving safely, in a fashion almost professional. Wynonna guessed he learned a few tricks in the military. Just wasn’t expecting the person who tripped while standing still would be able to do action movie stunts so perfectly.

Nicole and Waverly next, with Wynonna covering them. Dolls and Doc’s help, too. Still, Nicole was nervous. This was running into open fire. Similar to running through sprinklers, if sprinklers could kill. The fact Wynonna didn’t seem as worried only frustrated Nicole. Maybe care about something, for once?

Facing down the hall, where the cars were, there was nothing to their right. The entire ballroom was to the left. The right, only walls of the estate. In the corner once again. If the damn place didn’t sit at the top of a cliff Nicole might’ve blown a hole in it and ran from here instead. For now, she placed Waverly on her right side and covered their left. Shooting anything that moved. Waverly, still trying to figure out how to use a gun. One of the only lessons from Curtis she never paid attention to. Not like she ever expected to be going on a treasure hunting journey, shooting at people in some rich guy’s estate.

Two guys upstairs were taken down with two precise shots from Nicole. Another guy behind Dolls, by Wynonna. Several dozen, by Doc’s pistols, in all directions. Nicole heard stories of his shooting skills, but she’d never gotten to see them for herself. She’d only met him once or twice. Good to know it wasn’t just legend.

At the new cover, Nicole ushered Waverly, quickly, to safety behind the crowding table. Nicole stood behind a column. Bending over like that wouldn’t do her much use, anyway.

Last person needing to move was Wynonna, who waited for Nicole’s signal. She would keep low and dive like Jeremy did, landing perfectly next to Nicole, in between the table and the column. It was perfect. A regular day’s work for a seasoned hunter such as herself.

Dodged the first few bullets just fine. Then she dove, shoulder first, the bullets completely missing her—

And landed flat on her ass.

Nicole fought every urge to laugh.

“Fuck you! Don’t laugh!”

So maybe she wasn’t the action movie treasure hunter but damn it if she didn’t look the part.

Like some cheap homemade short film, Wynonna dragged herself off the ground and sourly made for cover next to Nicole. Flopping on the ground and walking the rest of the way, like a loser.

“I want a refund,” she grumbled. Punching Nicole in the shoulder for laughing.

-

It was more of the same, for an unfair amount of time. Heads poking from cover, shooting blindly, and hiding again. Not like there was a bullet count anyone had to worry about.

There hadn’t been any openings for the exit yet. The cars were still running, and probably would be out of power by the time the team finally hiked over there. If, by some miracle, they actually made it over there.

At some point Wynonna cursed this stalemate and began looking around for other options. Nicole was too busy worrying about how many bullets were in the air. Doc only seemed bent on shooting whatever thing moved first, and Dolls was distracted by losing Bobo so quickly in the quarrel.

There was a dead guy laying next to them. One of the stupid guys from Bobo’s ranks who charged near them rather than take cover, like the rest of the boys currently standing. Still standing, because they’d taken cover like smart people. Or at least someone with average intelligence, given the stupidity virus that seemed to spread without end or cure within Bobo’s ranks.

Wynonna crouched down to a military crawl and scooted over to inspect the dead guy’s jacket. Maybe there was something they could use. Like a car that would sprout from nothing, for instance. Too bad Nicole had to surrender her keys to the Orbital Defense Forces upon entry. No remote calling her ship onto the scene for them to escape on.

“Grenade! Grenade in this idiot’s pocket!”

“Throw it!” Dolls instructed, something Wynonna had no taste for considering his bounty hunter and Total Douchebag stature. “We can run while they’re distracted!”

Wynonna gave Nicole a look. _Who the hell does this guy think he is?_ it said. Nicole just shrugged and nodded for her to throw it. She was thinking the same as Dolls, anyway.

With a look slightly too joyous, Wynonna threw the grenade further into the room of this poor house. Some guns made to shoot at the explosive while it was still in range of the team. Others made for cover. The team and their temporary allies immediately rushed down the hall, where the ballroom would cut off and only limited numbers could chase them.

Six people huddled into a five-person car. Dolls driving. He backed them from the front door and sped elsewhere. Further into the vast gardens introducing the property, further into the town nearby—anywhere but here. Anywhere he could lose the cars that quickly began to follow the clown car they were trying to get lost in.

“Haught! Where’s the journal?” Wynonna _had_ to ask. There was no way this was all for nothing. If it was she might’ve fallen over and died, no curse’s assistance needed.

To her greatest relief, Nicole pulled her jacket back and revealed the tablet, safe and sound. “Come on, Earp, I’m no amat—”

The left rear view mirror suddenly shattered. Dolls’s eyes frantically falling on the middle one to investigate. The rest of the team turned their heads completely around.

Bobo’s men were the only ones chasing now. Estate security wouldn’t leave the property, certainly not while Bobo’s men were still lingering, and certainly not while the entire building had just been shot up. For them, it was the ugly aftermath time. For the Earps and their allies, it was only the beginning of the ugly.

-

Swerving through town. Tires screeching through peaceful streets, destroying any and all sleep the upper class of Ciro might’ve hoped to hold this evening. Gunshots, heads and hands poking from windows, leaving the town on edge. There was a war right before them, for treasures far surpassing their own.

Wynonna began to curse Dolls. Nothing she felt too bad about; the asshole was shooting at her just minutes ago.

“Lose them, you moron!” she yelled from the backseat, pushing Waverly down to make sure she wouldn’t be hit in the crossfire. “We can’t out shoot the entire crew! Shake ‘em, damn it!”

Dolls was no more happy than she was. “What do you think I’m trying to do?”

“Get us killed, maybe? My fucking god—on your left, you dumbass!”

Wynonna cursed even louder when the car swerved. One of Bobo’s men managed to cut them off. Luckily their gunners were taken out quickly by both Doc and Nicole. Doc aiming carefully for the driver next.

“Okay, that does it. My sister’s in the backseat, you suicidal maniac.”

“What the hell are—”

Not much anyone could do to save Dolls, as Wynonna Earp, long time thief and expert when it came to post-theft car chases, climbed into the driver’s seat and plopped herself directly into his lap. Forcibly removing his hands from the wheel and kicking his feet away from the pedals.

“Earp!”

Wynonna sat back and muffled his face. Maybe he’d pass out, if they were all lucky. “I’ll get us out of this.”

Before the last word could even hit the air, she was jerking the vehicle to an open alleyway on the left. The cops should be jumping onto this scene any moment. Get the team out of view, distract the cops with Bobo’s men, make a slip. Forget the desert. They were jumping on the first train to Celso. Getting on the ship. Forgetting this damn place and this damned night.

Other side of the alleyway, she made a right turn. Halfway through, she switched it into a sharp left instead. Faked them out. One of Bobo’s cars swerved and crashed into some business’s brick wall. Wynonna _almost_ felt giddy enough to start giggling with her victory. Something about being in an angry bounty hunter’s lap was killing the mood.

Sirens behind them. Wynonna grinned wider. Eviler.

Turned right into another alley. Few of Bobo’s cars kept going. Cops began to shoot and yell their demands for everyone to knock off their stupid action movie chase. Wynonna kept to the alleys, driving straight through three intersections before turning left to rejoin the main road. Sirens behind them. A couple of Bobo’s cars followed, but Doc and Nicole took care of them. Wynonna kept steady on the road, turning where she could. Didn’t do anything easy to trace.

Dolls didn’t get to breathe real air until they stopped at the train station at the edge of Calvino. Catch a ride back to Celso, quick as possible. Pretend they were all friends just a little—

“Hands on your head, Wynonna Earp.” 

God damned Deputy Marshal Xavier Dolls. 

“You’re coming with me.”

“Oh, relax,” Wynonna scoffed, “I only think you’re _mildly_ stupid. Definitely a terrible driver, too.”

His gun was pointed, armed and ready to shoot. “I won’t ask you again.”

Her gun was holstered, safety off and ready for absolutely nothing. “Try me, asshole.”

“Dolls, come on—” Jeremy was silenced by a simple glare.

“What,” Wynonna shot back in her own words, “you didn’t catch Bobo tonight so you’re compensating? If it weren’t for us, you’d be dead, you motherfucker!”

Waverly pitched in, “Dolls, stop.”

Even Dolls’s partner was placing a hand on his shoulder to stop him. “I do not think—”

All went silent when Nicole pulled her borrowed gun and stepped protectively in front of Wynonna. Her old military friend, someone she went through the most traumatic experience of both of their lives with, someone she recovered with, lined in her sights. “Wynonna’s coming with me, Xavier. We’re all getting to the shipyard, and we’re going our separate ways. I don’t care how high her bounty is.”

She caught Dolls’s hand shake. _Hesitate._ “Don’t be stupid, Haught. Get out of the way.”

“You wouldn’t shoot me.”

“Nicole.”

“Xavier.”

Dolls shoved Doc’s hand off his shoulder once more. “Haught, you are defending a criminal.”

Nicole only stood taller, covering more of Wynonna. “I’m protecting my sister.”

The next thing to steal everyone’s attention was gunshots. Close. Getting closer. Not slowing down. The entire group’s heads turned, to find a few stragglers of Bobo’s forces managed to catch up with them.

“Train!” Nicole yelled. “Get on the train, now!” Keeping her gun on Dolls. Neither moved. “We’re leaving.”

A near-miss with a pursuer’s bullet threw away whatever threat was in Dolls’s head, about to be born into the world. Instead he rushed onto the train with the others. The conductor trying to start the train, trying to cut them off from entering.

Wynonna pushed past him. Ushered Waverly and Jeremy on board. Doc followed, tipping his hat to the poor and frustrated man trying to get his public transportation vehicle away from blasting guns. Some security goons on board were trying to keep them from entering any of the cabins.

Yelling and shouting and shooting. So much chaos no one fully registered the sound of Nicole being shot. Not until she fully collapsed and Waverly shrieked over the noise of everyone else.

It was an electric mod attached to a standard gun. Nicole’s breathing was short. There was a chance, a good chance, the implants were fried.

The implants that helped her breathe.

Wynonna immediately pulled her gun on the train conductor. “Let us on, _now.”_

“You are all a hazard to everyone on board! Get away!”

“You’re putting everyone on board in danger by standing around! Don’t you see the gunshots, you stupid, stupid—”

Dolls cut completely in front of her. Ripping his badge out from his jacket pocket. “On behalf of the Galactic Republic’s Black Badge Division, I am commandeering your vehicle. Step aside, or I will have no choice but to arrest you for treason.”

Wynonna eyed him. Such a sudden change. A minute ago he was ready to shoot Nicole. Her eyes fell on his hands. They were shaking. Dolls was _afraid_.

He turned around, as the conductor backed off and headed for the head car, and motioned for Doc to help him. The two carrying her inside to the first empty cabin. Dolls had Doc join him at the head car. Making sure the conductor kept his head in the right place. Wynonna stood guard at the cabin’s door. Same reasoning.

Waverly sat, terrified, holding her unconscious spouse close.

-

Celso, Nestore.

Galaxy 17.

1:32 a.m., Nestore Capital Time.

There was no time to question why Dolls was entering Nicole’s ship, following them as they carried her all the way to the medical bay in a terrified flurry. Doc, the former dentist, trailing, helping set up the basics and getting the AI system running. Nicole had already programmed her conditions into the system, while she was still traveling for treatment. Often her only crewmate was Nedley. Now she had a small army.

“What the hell are you still doing here, douchebag?” Wynonna called to Dolls. “Get the hell out!”

He didn’t answer. Only helped them settle Nicole and waited until the AI system kicked in and produced an assessment and treatment plan. It was here Wynonna eyed him again.

“Get out of here.” Waverly was too tied up to tell her what an asshole she was being at the moment. Maybe she did feel a little guilty, but she wasn’t about to back down. This man had a gun pointed at her not even twenty minutes ago.

“I wanted to make sure she was okay.”

“She only got shot because you were holding us up.”

Here Waverly found the time to say something. “Knock it off, damn it!”

An angry Waverly always seemed to do the trick. When the tablet fell out of Nicole’s suit jacket, she looked like she was considering throwing it across the room.

Wynonna felt something creeping within her. Not fear. No.

Regret.

The AI reported Nicole’s breathing was not stabilizing. The implants were not responding properly. Her legs looked just as bad. Waverly looked ready to shoot herself out of the airlock. Damn, those two were close, Wynonna observed.

Wynonna needed to make this right. “We’re going back to Purgatory.”

There was none of the resistance she was expecting. Waverly replied, with the same notion in mind, “Yeah, we are.”

“I’ll escort you back,” Dolls offered. Wynonna brushed past him at the doorway.

“We’re not interested in your night job, shithead.”

“Bobo’s men could follow you.” He looked serious. A fraction guilty. “I’ll make sure they don’t. Doc, you stay on board here. I’ll be right behind you.”

He left without another word and without another protest from Wynonna.

“Can you believe—” The expression on Waverly’s face cut out all need for humor. Wynonna jumped over to the pilot’s seat. She needed to make this right.

She needed to take them home.

-

Space Orbit, Nestore.

Galaxy 17.

2:02 a.m., Nestore Capital Time.

“Thank you, sir. I won’t delay. The targets will be delivered on time.”

The man on the screen saluted Dolls. “Thatta boy, Xavier. Report in soon. And watch yourself. These are dangerous folks you’re playing with.”

Dolls saluted. “Yes, sir. Thank you, sir, I will keep that in mind.”

The screen went black, the man gone now. Dolls allowed himself to relax, slouching slightly.

He’d get Bobo, alright. Help the Earps. Tag along, no matter how much Wynonna Earp didn’t want him to. They needed his protection and his resources, he could convince them of that.

And then, at the end of the road, with Bobo in his grasp, he’d turn around and arrest Wynonna Earp. Two bounties in one job.

Wasn’t personal. It was just a manner of business. Nicole wasn’t the only one being crushed by debt. Jeremy wasn’t the only person who wanted to move on in life.

This was it. This would be Xavier Dolls’s freedom from Black Badge.

He exhaled. “Time to get to work.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look that’s not how projectors work but artificial gravity isn’t a thing either so sssHHHHHH
> 
> Thank you so much for your support. The kudos, the comments, the effort of even opening a giant (13k) chapter like this and reading it through is largely, hugely, and GREATLY appreciated. 
> 
> This chapter was polished and perfected by my dear buddy @dorianmcgrath, the real life Doriano Estate with all the fancy but not quite as much shrimp. I love and appreciate you, brother. He has a fantastic [vampire AU](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21434686) that I highly recommend, with even more amazing material left to cover. Absolutely brilliant. Check it out!
> 
> (There's also a [camping AU](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22915492) by my other buddy @skrimshaw05 I'd like to bring to attention thnx)
> 
> Next time, we run into a few familiar folks in Purgatory. Some friendly, some not. 
> 
> Stay safe, stay healthy, and I’ll catch you 'round, treasure hunters. 
> 
> Song used in this chapter: [Rocket to the Moon - Sheldon Allman](https://open.spotify.com/track/0SnvFOr72aeXsJFjzOGE7g?si=ukmVgsY9QrmGDsQhHwReNA)


	4. New Times, Old Faces

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *enters, calmly* Chapter 4 was a vibe
> 
> So this chapter got done quick! Certainly a lot less painful than the last. *stares off into the distance*
> 
> Not a massive 13k or anything crazy. enjoy. :)

Space Orbit, Earth.

Galaxy 1.

2:09 p.m., Earth MST.

“Don’t touch the VR set.”

Dolls frowned, somehow more than he was frowning already. The fingers under his unremoved brown leather gloves clenching. “I’m the one who gave this to Haught, for the record.”

Wynonna frowned, almost in competition. “For the record, you’re a jackass.”

“Let’s be civil, Earp. There’s no need for—”

“Oh, fuck you, there’s plenty of need for—”

There was the slamming of a stainless steel bottle against the table in the cabin. Waverly Earp, angrily staring at the bickering fools who looked back on her, startled. “Can you two  _ please,  _ for one minute, just stop? I mean, come on!”

Dolls kept his composure. Wynonna looked like a puppy freshly slapped. She barely got a sound out to apologize, before Waverly was rushing off for the rear of the ship.

“It’s almost time for the meeting with Shae.”

Gone before another breath could be taken in the room. Wynonna, feeling like an asshole once more. But this was Dolls’s fault, he didn’t get to sit here on Nicole’s ship and pretend everyone and everything was okay. Stand around and touch Nicole’s things.

It was like he sensed she was about to rip him a new one. Or at least  _ try _ to, given the man had all the emotional range of crusty old banana bread. He took the opportunity to make a lame excuse and return to his own ship, trailing behind them. They were all sitting in Earth’s orbit, a long line ahead of them to enter the planet. Busiest place in the universe, considering, on all fronts, Earth was the center of the universe. The one thing binding everyone and everything together.

Too bad the treasure wasn’t on the stupid planet.

Dolls’s plan was to return to the Earth Black Badge Division headquarters and get them all more weapons and tools to fight against Bobo Del Rey. Wynonna didn’t see the point. Not like Nicole was in any shape for this. Something told her Waverly wasn’t about to be up for treasure hunting, either. She knew nothing about Jeremy, other than he was a clumsy nerd who also simultaneously had some serious battlefield moves. The new crew of Wynonna Earp and two lawmen was not one she found appealing.

But damn it, how was she expected to stop now? With the journal sitting right on that table, the next move in front of them? How was she expected to let Bobo Del Rey win everything he wasn’t owed? Win everything he imagined he was owed, by the Earps? Her own blood? No. No, she wasn’t about to let that asshole win. Constance’s curse could take her, and she’d still find a way to do this from the grave.

For Waverly. For Nicole. She needed to do this to help them. Prove she wasn’t a lousy friend. Prove she wasn’t a lousy sister.

Prove she didn’t waste a whole life, failing every possible thing that fell into her path.

Her eyes fell on the VR set. The gun that went with it. Last night she made some lackluster shots.  _ Lousy  _ shots. Might as well make something of the time.

It all went so wrong so quick. Nicole was right; she didn’t think everything through. The getaway went on far too dangerously. Her sister was in that shootout, not to mention. Her sister was in the middle of guns shooting and guns killing. Did Waverly even know how to shoot a gun? Was Waverly even willing to shoot a gun? What happens next time—if there even is a next time—there’s bullets flying? It was a miracle only one of them got hurt. It was a miracle this was nothing like the police raid on Bobo’s ship—

An outburst of coughing nearly floored her. But it was kind enough to break her from her thoughts. Wynonna set the VR gear down. Her mind was too busy for this. Not good as something productive, not good as something distracting.

Distracting. Hell, a distraction would do  _ fine _ just about now. Jeremy was in his room. Doc disappeared somewhere. The phone consult was about to start—

Wynonna raced over to the locked medical bay on her tiptoes. Ear touching the door.

“Do you truly believe this is a good idea?”

If she didn’t cover her mouth, she would’ve yelled loud enough for Waverly to emerge from the room and rip her throat out.

Doc offered her a coffee. She felt every urge in all the stars around them to slap it out of his stupid hand and watch his stupid mustache twitch into a frown.

She cursed herself for taking it. Once more when she joined him in backing away from the room, entering further in the halls of the crew’s quarters.

Doc made some sort of toasting motion as Wynonna chugged her drink. “I do not believe we have yet had the pleasure of catchin’ up.”

Didn’t seem all too interested. “Same old shit! There, we’re caught up.”

He only chuckled, some amusement to him. Sipping from a steaming mug of his own. “I hope you are not placin’ the blame of this situation on yourself. Such an assumption would be—”

A  _ loud _ yelp from the med bay broke the conversation. Wynonna shoved her drink in Doc’s hand and practically dove over to the door, her ear pressed hard against it. She wished the muffled mumbles were a little clearer. 

“Wynonna, I do not think—”

She hissed and waved him off. Two coffees in hand, alone in the hall, Doc sighed.

“I should have spiked these,” he grumbled.

-

The study of medicine, Waverly decided, was evil. It was an evil field. It was an evil act. Sitting here, testing her spouse’s reflexes in place of a proper doctor, it felt evil. Watching her spouse grit her teeth like a whipped prisoner of her own suffering and yelp and jump at the simple motion of a slight raise of a leg, was  _ evil. _

She felt like crying.

Every unfortunate sound. Every note Shae took. Every test that failed. Evil. Fucking. Study.

They turned the lights in the bay off and pulled the x-ray screen over Nicole’s chest. In the instant scan it offered, all signs were normal. Shae wasn’t finding anything natural causing the pain, or the difficulty breathing. They moved the scanner over the leg implants. Still holding, strong. Nothing out of place. Physically, everything was perfect.

This wasn’t on the medicine side. It hadn’t been on the medicine side since the initial re-injury, Waverly suspected. It was on the robotics side. Medicine couldn’t fix a damn thing, not a damn thing it was promised to fix.

“We can use nanobots. They used to be common for troubleshooting these sorts of things. A non-surgical internal intervention. It might help the implants along,” Shae concluded. “The implants themselves are malfunctioning. Again. Er, more than usual. But the nanobots will need to be manually piloted. I’d also like to do an exam in person. I’ll be in Purgatory at the end of the week.”

A few more days of this. Waverly couldn’t stomach the thought. She almost wanted to take the ship and meet Shae instead.

“But, just a head’s up: the nanobots aren’t cheap. I can get a good deal, but—”

“That’s okay. We’ll make it work.” When Nicole was in pain, Waverly couldn’t care less about money. Just get it fixed—that was most important.

“In the meantime,” Shae continued, “to ease off the pain, it’s best to turn off the stims completely. If they’re not on, you can’t be hurting.”

Suddenly Nicole found the strength in her to sit up. “Yeah, but if they’re not on, I can’t walk or breathe.”

Shae was no stranger to her regular’s stubbornness. “Just a suggestion. At least turn off the legs. Cut yourself a break, Nicole.”

Nicole had no response. Only quiet frustration.

“If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to leave me a message. I’ll answer as soon as I can.”

“Thank you,” Waverly said in place of Nicole. With a nod from Shae, the session was over. Nicole flopped back on the bed.

No one spoke. No one really had anything to say. History repeating itself had that effect. The repetition always seemed so easy to avoid. So obvious. Only made things worse when it happened.

It would’ve been easy to shout to the heavens how unfair this all was. How unfair it was for a soldier to get injured in their profession and kicked out for being injured. For them to work to get their life back on track and lose it all in a stupid fall. Would’ve been easy. Too bad no one had the energy to do it.

There wasn’t a sound other than short, trying breaths, until Nicole reached over to the table on her left, grabbed the charging cable, and inserted it into the port in her hip. Turning all the way clockwise until her leg stimulators were turned off. The breathing stims weren’t even considered. 

Hospital bed. Couldn’t move her legs. Hard to breathe. Waverly’s hand in hers, sitting by her side. Felt like nothing changed. 

Except for one thing. 

“Wave?”

“Hmm?”

“Can you lay with me?”

Waverly’s fingers rubbed against Nicole’s hand. “I don’t know, babe, what if it—”

Nicole looked at her. “Please.”

There was no more hesitation. “Okay, okay. Um, I’ll . . . let’s see—Oh, I know what to do.”

She gently helped Nicole scoot to her left, closer to the edge. Waverly wedged on the right side, framing Nicole and placing an arm across her. Holding on tight, her head against Nicole’s shoulder. She felt Nicole sigh. She hummed as well.

“You’re the best teddy bear I’ve ever had.”

“Great,” Nicole began to laugh. “Does that mean Willa’s about to steal me?”

Waverly held her tighter. “I wouldn’t blame her. You look awfully dashing in that suit.”

The black dress shirt and pants remained. Gray jacket on the table across the room, shoes at the foot of the bed. Wasn't really in a rush to get changed. Wasn’t really in a rush to juggle the beast of changing clothes right now. 

Nicole looked at her. “ _ Dashing _ , huh? My, my.”

Waverly reached and kissed her on the cheek. “ _ Absolutely.” _

“Go, me.”

Nicole suddenly inhaled, sharply. Her neck, the original re-injury point, acting up. Spasm went away after a second or so. A second or so too long. 

And all Waverly could do was watch helplessly. “I’m so sorry, Nicole.”

“Hey, don’t—”

“I’m gonna.”

“Don’t!”

“You had the most concerns about the heist to begin with. You were the most careful, this isn’t fair!”

Nicole shrugged. “You do attract what you look for.”

“It’s not right!”

“There’s nothing we can really do about it, babe. It happened, that’s about it.”

“I know, but—”

“All I really can do is sit here and appreciate my wife.” Nicole paused as Waverly blushed. “And try to figure out how the hell I’m getting around without legs.”

Waverly tensed up. Mushy smile forgotten. “I might have something for that.”

Nicole’s eyes followed her as she walked about the wide room, moving one of the cabinets to find something intentionally hidden. 

She looked away with disdain. 

“I cannot believe you brought the wheelchair, Waverly. Considering it is one thing, but you  _ brought it.” _

“I wanted to be careful.” Waverly did not move, standing in the corner with the offensive item.

“You don’t trust me?”

“What? Of course I trust you! It’s those implants I don’t trust—all they do is hurt you!”

“I need them to live, Waverly.” Nicole turned her head away. “You know what? I’m tired.”

“Come on—”

“Have Wynonna land the ship.”

Waverly and the item in the corner, suddenly shrouded in darkness.

-

Jeremy talking to Robin in his room. Dolls, on his ship. Doc, making use of the VR set. Wynonna, pacing back and forth from the front windows by the pilot’s seat to the kitchen. They weren’t moving at all. Waverly decided to pass the miserable time by opening up Madison Wayne’s journal again. No Dolls and Wynonna to argue over her focus. No need to impatiently await treatment on her wife, either.

One of the trips, Wynonna promised she would be as quiet as she could. Before promptly tripping and shattering the glass beer in her hand.

She was quiet, but she made sure to snoop here and there. Luckily Waverly was too invested in the journal to notice.

Some new materials she wasn’t expecting came to surface.

Madison Wayne was essentially retelling the activities of one crewmember known as “Sparrow”. Her life’s biography, at this point. Sparrow was not shy; she was a real talker. Always had something to say. Always had a point to make.

When Waverly read the crew under Josiah Earp actually respected him, she immediately grasped for the first notebook she could reach. Two screens, visually the same as a paper notebook. Each side held enough memory for one hundred pages. Her stylus was unable to keep up with her. Filling page after page on the digital spiral with things she so frustratingly was not aware of nor expecting.

Most importantly, Josiah, like this Bobo Del Rey she’d met only last night, spent a long portion of his career looking for what remained of Wyatt II’s treasure vault. Like Bobo, Josiah was looking for what he believed he was owed.

Like Bobo, he had a loyal crew. Which only brought Waverly to wonder: how long until Bobo’s crew mutinied on him, too?

There had to be a Sparrow within Bobo’s ranks. Whispering among the crew the flaws of their leader. Josiah’s biggest being his greed. All the hellish trials they went through, chasing after his treasure.  _ His _ imaginary treasure that never seemed to take them anywhere. No leads. No signs of proof it even existed. The people they lost to rivals, the law, wildlife in certain planets. For what? Josiah Earp’s bedtime story?

One particularly bad run-in gave Sparrow all she needed to fuel the fire. Josiah Earp claimed to have finally,  _ finally _ found his father’s money after all this time. they fought nature. Hiked on foot, for miles through deserts. Suffered more and more losses by more and more creatures who appeared from the very grains of the sand at a moment’s notice. Only to arrive at an empty vault.

Someone moved Wyatt II’s vault.

Sparrow made a point of his empty promises. His lack of reward. His fairy tale nonsense in a real world, where real things were on their tails every second of every day. Of course the crew sided with Sparrow. Of course they left him to die, as creatures of the sands decided they were going to feast on broken and disappointed thieves with nowhere else to go. Broken and defeated scoundrels, who’d followed a broken, cowardly scoundrel of a man for so long to come up with so little.

Josiah’s second biggest flaw was his rage. Spending the rest of his money hunting down those who betrayed him. Hunting down Sparrow, until he spent his last dime and went fleeing back to his abandoned family in Purgatory. Raising a son who did not invest himself in what Josiah spent a whole lifetime doing. Passing away, a broken, defeated, scoundrel of a man.

Waverly put the stylus down and held her head in her hands instead. This was nothing. This was a history lesson. Josiah never found Wyatt II’s treasure. Edwin never attempted to look for it. Her father, Ward, and her sister Willa, died chasing the same dream. No clues. No leads. Nothing. Only an empty promise.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, but she pushed it away. Her only sister left asked her if everything was okay. Waverly silently rushed off for her room, frustrated.

Defeated.

-

Purgatory, Earth.

Galaxy 1.

5:27p.m., Earth MST.

Three hours later, their internal clocks a roulette wheel, the team landed in the only yard currently operated in Purgatory. Escorted in by two ships, just to keep them honest. Earth was the busiest place in the universe; didn’t want any surprises.

The fact Jeremy knew some of the soldiers inspecting the craft for landing approval sped things up. Wynonna’s fake identity today being Elena Rose, a young musician who hoped to travel the galaxies and make it big as a star. But of course the jerks were too busy chatting with Jeremy to take a look at her digital records. Yet again. Why even try, at this point?

Stopped not at the Haught household, but at the McCready ranch. Best if everyone still thought they were away, given the unhappy messages on both Waverly and Nicole’s phones. 

When Gus’s eyes fell on Wynonna, it was clear she was set to close the door. Then she saw Nicole and suddenly everyone was being rushed inside.

Going back to the old pull out bed on the couch, where Nicole slept before she could climb stairs again, felt like the biggest setback in the world. 

Dolls was still away. Waverly encouraged Jeremy to go see Robin. In front of Wynonna and Doc, Gus finally demanded some information. Waverly gave some fake story about the implants suddenly giving out while they were hiking. 

“I know for a fact that ain’t the whole truth,” Gus said, and she eyed Wynonna with it. Always ready to blame Wynonna. 

“Please don’t tell anyone we’re in town,” Waverly asked of her. “We’re still—”

“I don’t much care for lying, Waverly.”

Her eyes were pleading. “Gus. Please.”

“What are you doing for her?” Completely ignored the subject. “Where’s Nicole’s doctor?”

Long explanation about nanobots and then a worry about money. Gus was offering a loan. Nicole immediately argued, Gus gave her too much already. Gus told her to call Nedley. Nicole was even quicker to fight, Nedley gave even more. The loans were much too generous and Nicole was too proud to take them. 

The whole thing turned into a giant mess. Who could help with what. Nicole being too stubborn. Waverly twiddling her thumbs together in total stress. 

Wynonna stood from the corner. Nudged Doc. “Come on, let’s go.”

He gave her a look. “Where to? Can it not wait?”

“It’s time for me to do my part. It’s my turn to  _ contribute _ . Comin’ or not?”

Doc stood. “Lead the way.”

-

Pussy Willows. The wrong side of the wrong side of the tracks. Best fundraiser Teen Wynonna had for the Get the Fuck Out of Town effort. But today she was here for different reasons. Not funds. An old friend. 

Back entrance. Staircase leading to an entirely different part of the bar. A tattoo parlor, right underneath. Also a bar, where people who didn’t want to drink around sweaty, far from appealing men hid. Where misfit teens hid to complain about life. 

Wynonna and Doc turned the corner and immediately fell upon Wynonna’s goal.

“Rosita Bustillos. How the hell are—“

Wynonna’s forced, fake, chummy introductions were interrupted when Rosita punched her right in the face. 

“Cool,” Wynonna said, her face scrunched up in pain. “Are we good now? What the hell was that even for?”

Rosita backed off, not as satisfied as she wanted to be. “I haven’t decided. No, scratch that. That’s for coming in here with  _ him _ .”

Doc tipped his hat, as if nothing were wrong and they were all old friends having a good time. “Ma’am,” he added, smiling like an asshole, stirring the pot like an asshole. 

“Whatever you two want, the answer is no.”

Wynonna didn’t let her take a step. “It’s about Nicole. I need someone who can code. I know you know someone.”

Rosita looked hesitant. 

But Wynonna wasn’t willing to take no for an answer. “You owe Nicole. Her implants are fucked up and I need a coder.”

Rosita sighed. “Wait here. Give me five minutes.”

Five minutes spent coughing, trying not to cough, and muffling coughs. Wynonna did not like how Doc was eyeing her. In that Doc way, trying to figure her out. 

Her eyes shot daggers into him. She told him to mind his own business, and he insisted he was simply standing here, waiting for Rosita. But she saw him. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him staring. Playing detective.

Rosita returned, but before she could say a word, Doc was whispering something in her ear. She said she could spare a moment. Pulled them in some back room. Scanned Wynonna with some strange machine Wynonna vaguely remembered but couldn’t quite piece together right now. 

The results it apparently was going to produce didn’t pull up immediately. Gave them some time to chat. 

“Do you remember Abigail Bailey?” Rosita asked Wynonna.

“Not really,” she answered. “She never spoke to anyone. Just sat in a corner and talked to computers all day. Kind of a freak.”

“Nicole didn’t think so. They were friends; Nicole was the one person Abigail talked to.”

“Don’t tell me Abigail is conveniently in town.”

“It so happens,” Rosita said, circling closer to Wynonna and Doc by the door of this secret room, “Abigail owes me a favor. I got her out of that bad job half of the crew got arrested in. I got her a new tech rig. And most importantly, she works for my crew now.”

Wynonna crossed her arms. “So you guys are doing illegal shit in here? And I wasn’t invited?”

Rosita glared at her. “Of course you weren’t invited. Look, there’s something everyone should know about these implants: there’s nothing wrong with the implants. It’s the doctors. Of course doctors don’t like them—they don’t understand them. Doctors and engineers are separate, not the same. No one is both. A doctor can’t fully understand how to harmlessly install an implant or repair the malfunctions they typically cause in a way without medicine. No one thinks of coders during heart surgery. It’s the same way an engineer can’t diagnose cancer.”

“Who are you with this speech, Abigail?”

She was ignored. “Doctors don’t think about overriding the implants; changing functions instead of defaulting it back. They’re doctors; they only think about the way it works with the body. They apply the first medication they can think of and call it a day. Sometimes, yes, it is completely the technology’s fault, not the person. Whatever’s going on with Nicole, it’s more than likely all she needs is the right code. Not a supplement. Probably not a nanobot, either, because, for the most part, those things turned useless and outdated decades ago. Rewrite the foundation; I’d bet that’s the key here.”

“McCready Ranch. Soon as you can. We can take you, if you need it.”

“We’ll be there. I doubt it’ll take l—” 

The scanner went off. Rosita grabbed it before Wynonna could even ask what it was. Within seconds she was muttering, “You’re really sick, Wynonna.”

“That’s what the wanted posters say,” Wynonna shrugged.

“No, your lungs, they’re—”

Doc began to step over. Wynonna stepped over faster and grabbed the scanner from the both of them. 

Doc was not amused. “Wynonna, this could be serious!”

Oh, he had no idea. “It’s nothing,” Wynonna said.

“What if it is serious? Have you at least told Waverly?”

“Waverly doesn’t need to know.”

“Of course she deserves to know, she is your sister.”

“This isn’t something you need to worry about, Doc. I can’t believe you would even have her scan me like that!”

“Tell your sister, at least, I implore you.”

“This is not something she needs to know. Mind your own business, you invasive asshole!”

Stormed out after that. Coughing, cursed as she was.

Rosita looked at Doc where she’d been standing awkwardly in the corner. “Good to know you’re still great with the ladies, Holliday.”

-

Purgatory, Earth.

Galaxy 1.

8:00 p.m., MST.

There was only one bar worse than Pussy Willows in Purgatory. Biker bar on the other side of town. Teen Wynonna and Teen Nicole got into plenty of trouble here, back in the day. She just needed a damn drink.

This is where Bobo Del Rey recruited her. So the fact she immediately found the man inside was nothing of a surprise.

Xavier Dolls was doing a  _ great _ job of keeping him away.

Next thing she knew, she was sitting next to the gang leader himself. All hopes for a peaceful drink abandoned.

“You stole my auction plan.” He smiled at her. Took a drink of the beer in front of him, offering Wynonna a drink of her own. He tried not to look too offended when she refused. “Wasn’t a bad plan. You steal my findings on the treasure, and then you run off. Our partnership forgotten. You come back home and find your sister. You try to completely screw me. Not bad. It’s everything I expect from an Earp.”

His kind and welcoming smile froze over into a wolfish snarl.

“Screwing me over on the auction is one thing. Coming back to Purgatory and taking your sister—now  _ that _ pisses me off.”

If she weren’t surrounded, Wynonna would’ve punched him to the ground. “There is no way in the universe I would let you drag Waverly into all of this.”

He laughed, “So you turn around and do the same thing?”

“It wasn’t my plan. Then Haught’s mechanic shop went up in—” Suddenly Wynonna paused. No, there was no way . . .

“Cloaked mine. Expensive. Cruel. But everything I needed to rope Waverly into all of this. The financial and legal repercussions would do all the work for me. I stand by what I said. Waverly is the key to all this. Shame I wasn’t quick enough to make a deal before you took her and left town on that piece of shit ship.”

“If Waverly’s the answer, you asshole,” Wynonna was the one snarling now, “then why try to kill all of us at the auction? Having your stupid boys running around and shooting us—how the hell does that help you?”

That shootout was the exact reason Wynonna didn’t tell Waverly about the auction in the first place. But then her stupid, smart sister found out about it. There was a reason Wynonna poured over the map of the estate so many times. There was a reason she did not produce an escape plan; all she could think about was the possibility of things going wrong.

Bobo sat back in his chair. Relaxed. “I admit things got out of hand. Completely. You don’t understand my frustration. But I want to keep things civil now.” That falsely warm and totally uncomfortable grin returned. “We’re both after the same things; we shouldn’t be fighting if we’re after the same things. I will forgive you, Wynonna. Although you deserted the Reapers, twice, I forgive you.”

How very kind and sweet of him. What a god damn sweetheart.

He continued, “But you’re an adult now. You have much bigger choices to make. You want to bring back something for Waverly, don’t you? Bring something back for your family, for all the hurt and absence you’ve given them?”

Wynonna was silent.

“You only have so much time left, Wynonna. Why not join me? You and Waverly, making up for lost time. I’ll give you a fair cut of the treasure. I’ll give you both protection.”

“Sounds like the perfect fairy tale scenario, Robert. But you left out the part where I don’t want my little sister anywhere near you, your lackies, or the law. Keep your money, too, I don’t give a shit.”

“Something tells me you need that money desperately.”

“I don’t need a single fucking handout from y—”

With the worst timing in the world, Wynonna burst into a coughing fit. Bobo, watching with some sort of creepy satisfaction. 

“You don’t have a lot of time left,” he reminded her. “Surely baby sister is more willing to take a ‘handout’? She can’t be taking this well.”

The way Wynonna was trying to keep herself neutral was obvious in itself. Bobo immediately pieced it all together. He looked pretty damn satisfied with himself, again.

“How could you not tell Waverly something so huge?”

“Waverly doesn’t need to worry about this.”

“Who are you to decide?”

Wynonna shot him a look.

-

Gus tossed a bottle of pills at Nicole’s lap. “Stop pretending you’re tough, Haught, and take one of those, damn it. I can see you fussin’ and squirming.”

The way Nicole sat, so tense it was almost humorous, was an obvious reveal to her lie: “I’m fine, Gus.”

“Oh, really? That terrible show you love is on and you’ve paid it no mind for the past hour.”

The TV on the wall across from Nicole played a scene from  _ The Office, _ one of the characters on screen pranking another. Nicole didn’t even flinch. “You don’t need to worry about me, Gus.”

From the kitchen, Gus put down the fruit in her hand and stepped closer to Nicole. Making sure she was seen as she made clear, “I’ll worry about my niece-in-law all I want. Speaking of which, have you two bothered to tell Wynonna yet, or is that another secret I’ll need to keep?”

She tried eyeing Waverly directly, but Waverly’s eyes did not leave the TV. Lost in thought. So lost, it was as if she wasn’t even in the room. A digital journal sitting in her lap, open but gaining even less attention.

Didn’t stop Gus. “I don’t like taking down all the pictures in the house and hiding them, you know.”

Suddenly, Waverly’s head shot up, quick to want to end this conversation. “We’re working on it,” she replied unkindly.

Gus stepped closer, and with it Nicole awkwardly sank lower in her seat. “You two can’t keep secrets like this from family.”

The journal left Waverly’s lap. Nicole was considering turning on her leg stims and making a break for it. “Wynonna was  _ never _ around in the first place,” Waverly argued, “all that time we spent waiting for her for our wedding. She isn’t entitled to know anything about us, Gus! She certainly didn’t care before!”

“Wynonna would never keep something as big as this from you.”

-

“I can’t tell Waverly.” Wynonna almost felt to drink now. “I’m just—I can’t. We only have so much time left. I’ve already fucked up enough and it’s already weird enough. Let me just make it more awkward!”

Bobo shook his head. They weren’t even posing as rivals now. They were as they were in the past; mentor and student. Though Wynonna was mostly talking to herself.

“No,” Wynonna refused again. “When things are right and Waverly is set, I will tell her.”

-

“I will tell Wynonna when things are right.”

Gus rolled her eyes. “What even is ‘right’, Waverly?”

-

“Won’t that be cruel,” Bobo asked, genuinely, “to tell her after you’ve been reunited so long? Right as you’re running out of time?”

-

“It isn’t cruel, Gus, it’s just how things need to work.”

-

Bobo laughed. “This is selfish nonsense, now. Hell, at this point, you’ll just rip the team apart yourself.”

“Get a fucking life, you asshole,” Wynonna muttered.

Bobo raised his drink in toast. “Good luck with your self-made problems, Wynonna.” He threw the bottle across the room after he took a sip. Falling serious. “This is your last chance. You have tomorrow to join me, or I will have no choice but to start treating your team as a threat to what is  _ mine _ .”

Calmly, Wynonna told him, “Go to hell, Bobo.”

“Oh, I will,” he laughed, “but not without dragging you down with me first.”

-

Waverly began to storm off for the door. “You know what? I don’t want to talk about this any longer. I’m going to go get some air.”

Gus rolled her eyes.

Waverly shot Nicole a brief, “I love you,” before she was out the door again. Car keys in hand.

-

Bobo was leaning forward in his chair now, halfway over the table between them. “If you are not with me, then you are in my way. I’ve waited too long and worked too  _ god damn long _ for anyone or anything to stand in my way, especially another god damned Earp!”

There was a final slam of fists on the table before he got up to leave.

He stopped at the door. Calmer. “I am sorry, Wynonna. I always thought you were a good kid. All those years together.” He shook his head. “Shame.”

Out the door, we waved a hand. Instantly, his men were on their feet and lunging towards Wynonna. She barely dodged the first thrown fist before she was on her feet, hitting the person the fist belonged to with the chair she sat.

She looked around the bar. Ten or so foes, against her. Just her, and lungs that were failing her because of, somehow, a magic woman’s curse. Great odds.

But then again, the odds were never really in Wynonna’s favor.

The next attacker came over to her. She grabbed an empty beer bottle from the table behind her and downed him. Easy down. Nine more to go.

-

She wasn’t quite sure why she brought the damned journal with her. But it was the perfect symbolism for all the things going on right now; all the things stressing her out.

Waverly threw the stupid thing in the backseat of Nicole’s truck.

She wasn’t exactly sure where she was going, either. Just going, somewhere. Somewhere quiet. Somewhere no one could stack more bad news onto her already panicking brain. She should’ve told Nicole she lied all those days ago. Her lack of sleep was her own doing, not some silly story about sneezing.

Her lack of communication was a whole round of something else. Maybe there was some Ward Earp in her, after all. Something for him to be happy about, perhaps.

Ward Earp. She found herself driving for the homestead.

Not entirely sure why.

-

Things were going alright, like they always seemed to for Wynonna Earp.

Just kidding, they were absolutely terrible.

The second someone landed a hit to her gut, it was game over. Barely standing ground, unable to catch her breath. Few guys got a couple more good hits in before she called it a day and pulled out Peacemaker. It escalated the hell out of the situation, but sometimes that’s just how it went. 

Panting, as if freshly over with a marathon, she stepped outside. Her slow gait an opposite contrast to her heavy and quick chest.

Her eyes caught Bobo Del Rey. Standing by his car, smoking. Staring at her. He shook his head before getting in and driving away.

Wynonna laughed. “I know, asshole. Huge fucking disappointment.”

She began to walk off.

“Story of my fucking life.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was polished by my awesome buddy, @dorianmcgrath. Get yourself a real one like this one, folks.
> 
> Funny thing. Chapter 5 is already done, and it will be a short flashback chapter regarding Wynonna. Everyone loves a good flashback, I know. Should be up next week.
> 
> As always, thank you for reading. It really validates and settles my inner LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME PLEASE I HAVE A STORY TO TEEEEEELLLL!!!! and I think that’s beautiful.
> 
> What’s at the homestead, I wonder…


	5. Homebound

SOME YEARS AGO.

The sunset brought a frown upon her face. Anger. Another day wasted, in this town. This place. This place of fake people and small goals and dreams. This place of heavy, crushing eyes that stared and _stared_ a person down until they were sunken six feet in. Even then, they watched. They watched for a god damn millennia. Not kind enough to offer peace or quiet.

Another day wasted in Purgatory. Another twenty-four hours, here, in the slowest part of the busiest planet in the whole universe. In all the universe, in all the stars that kept her up at night, she had to be stuck in this wretched place. _These_ wretched eyes sinking her into the ground until there was nothing left.

She took a drag from the electronic cigarette between her fingers. What a fucking life this was.

“I can’t wait to blow this town.”

Her friend nodded. Quiet. Hogging the cigarette, frankly. Lost in her own thoughts of how badly this place _sucked._

“One more month, and we’re free. Bobo said he’d wait for us.” She nudged her quiet friend. “One more month and we’re free, Haught.”

Nicole Haught said nothing. Reacted nothing. Just sat there, treating the cigarette like it was a lollipop. She thought nothing of it. That’s just how Nicole Haught was. Quiet, until things went wrong. Then she was ready to explode.

Wynonna on the other hand, was ready to explode at a moment’s notice. The perks of a rotten family legacy. The famously criminal family and the famously drunken father who spent what little he “made” on beer. Her mother, long gone. Dishonest family in a town of people throwing their backs out for honest work.

It was the people called the law on Ward and Willa Earp, as they left on their greatest treasure yet: finding the lost treasure of Wyatt Earp II. This was the real deal this time. This was it! This was the payday!

_Absolute bullshit, pops._

The wrong person found out Ward Earp was back in town. Found out he took his daughter from the home of his sister-in-law, her rightful guardian, and went to go teach her what her future entailed. The fact she died with nothing was all too real for Wynonna to handle most days. 

The law was on their tails too fast. Ward was a stubborn man who put a gun in his daughter’s hands. Didn’t end well. Out of respect, that officer, Nedley returned the family gun to Wynonna’s Aunt Gus. Family heirloom, as much as the galaxies hated the Earps. 

Bobo would give her purpose. He would get her and Nicole out of here, and take them somewhere real. Somewhere where they got to pursue their own goals and finally, finally do things their way.

-

The world was too loud. Teenagers chatting about teenager things. Gossiping about Josh and what he thought about Jessica. Stacey’s hair was a new color. Debbie thinks Mary is pregnant. Ashley made the fucking soccer team. Absolutely riveting. Easily took Nicole’s mind off her parents and the fact she could jump off a bridge and they wouldn’t blink.

Imagine, not caring for your own kid.

Imagine, the color of someone’s hair being the most important talking point of someone’s day. The color of it was _that_ fascinating. The new cut was _that_ fascinating. It was worth putting all their energy into! It was worth talking all day and night about!

It made Nicole sick.

But the teachers told her _she_ needed to act more like an adult. Step up. Stop being such a whiny teen. Realize these were the best years of her life! These, right here! This was it! No getting better from here!

She reached into the center console of her truck and pulled out her electronic cigarette. If this all wasn’t so annoying, she’d be laughing her lungs out instead of smoking them out.

Five minutes. Just five minutes of silence. No stupid teenagers and their made up problems. No stupid teachers and their misshaped perception of the world. Just her and the cigarette. Breathing it in. Breathing it out.

In, out.

In, out.

In, out.

“What the fuck were you doing talking to David? Huh? What the fuck were you doing talking to him?”

In, out.

“Bullshit, Chrissy! You were flirting with him! We’re fucking _dating,_ you bitch! Have some god damn loyalty!”

In, out.

In, out.

“Fuck you! I know you’re lying! I saw the way you looked at him!”

In.

Out.

“Then why the fuck were you laughing? No! Get back here! I’m talking to you, you fucking bitch!”

In.

“Hayden, get your hands off me!”

Out.

Away.

Car door kicking open. Center console slamming shut.

“Hayden stop, you’re scaring me!”

The earth crunching beneath her feet. All she wanted was some god damn peace and quiet.

“Hayden! Get your hands off me!”

A hand was raising.

Her boots crunched faster.

A hand was moving.

Her boots crunched the fastest they could go.

A new fist flew in and punched Hayden Johnson right across the jaw. There wasn’t so much as a swear or a curse as Nicole tackled him to the ground.

All she wanted was some god damn peace and quiet.

Punching Hayden Johnson into the ground.

All she wanted was some god damn peace and quiet.

All she wanted was for the teenagers to shut up and find real problems to bitch about.

The teachers to find something real to put into her perspective, or theirs.

Her fist began to bleed. Someone was trying to pull her off, but she wouldn’t let them.

The same way _they_ hated her, she hated this dumb jock who couldn’t shut his damn mouth.

The same way she wanted to bash _their_ heads in, she bashed this asshole’s head in. He wanted to burst into her peace. He wanted to come here and make noise. She’d give him some god damn noise. She’d give him something to whine about. She’d give the teachers a real reason to get on her case.

“Nicole! Nicole, please stop! That’s enough! You got him, that’s enough!”

She was grabbed from behind now, by Chrissy Nedley, and shoved to her feet. Away from Hayden Johnson. She stared at Chrissy. She looked down on Hayden. She took a wild guess she was about to join Wynonna behind bars again.

Her excuse was nothing grand. In fact, it was downright pathetic. “He was yelling.”

Chrissy grabbed Nicole’s bloodied fists. Examining them. “We need to get you some help. You cut yourself. Come on, get in my car. I’ll take you.”

Nicole stopped them. “Take me where? To the police station? No, thanks.” She yanked her hands away. “I’ll take care of this myself.”

Chrissy grabbed her by the arm now. “I won’t. I’ll take you to my place. My dad has all sorts of medical stuff around the house. He taught me how to use everything. Nicole, please, let me help you.”

She agreed to get in the car, unsure why. 

Her hands weren’t going to work. She couldn’t get home by herself. Wynonna was locked away in some facility. Maybe she was foolish. Maybe she was weak.

Maybe deep down, she really did want help.

-

Wynonna loved that story.

But all it did was make it obvious why hesitations. She had Nedley breathing down her neck, ever since that lovely interaction with that Hayden kid. How long was it before he turned _her_ into an officer? How long was it before he turned her into some civil zombie, filling out paperwork all day and telling people to drive a little slower? 

Nicole wasn’t made for that. Nicole was made to explore. To see the universe. Wynonna knew it. Nicole knew it. This was for the best.

Still, it wasn’t easy. Nedley tried to stop her at the door. Made a whole scene of it. When Nicole put her bag down, Wynonna picked it up. They left, together.

They joined Bobo Del Rey’s crew, together.

-

They explored sights on Earth. Places they’d never seen, in their own home. Waiting, all this time, begging for them to come visit. Making a name for themselves and properly putting their “special skills” to work. Wynonna was not Ward Earp. No past Earp before her, that’d failed. None of the losers her sister spent so long studying and researching for reasons she could never make sense of. Wynonna was a proper thief. Always brought something back. Always made a smile form on Bobo’s lips. Bobo, her leader. Bobo, her _mentor._

This was the environment she needed. This is the environment she craved. It was always her and Nicole, against the world. Now it was her, Nicole, and a whole crew, and nobody could tell them what to do. Nobody could strike them down and stand in their way. This is the life they were meant for. A life where they had the say. A life where they had _control._ No Gus to tell her everything that was wrong with her. No Curtis, nagging her for not being her best when, in fact, this is who she was and who she was always meant to be.

The world wasn’t against her and Nicole anymore. No, the world was in their hands.

The crew was more of a family to them than either of their families had ever been.

“It’s a shame we’ll be leaving little Waverly behind,” Bobo said to Wynonna. “Ah, well. That’s life, isn’t it?”

Waverly. Waverly was the one person who could survive Purgatory. Everything Waverly did was gold. Everything Waverly did was first place, applause, streamers falling from the ceiling. The town sweetheart. Purgatory’s happy little soul.

She didn’t need something like Wynonna holding her back and ruining all this.

Once again, there was something off about Nicole. Not the same excitement. Nothing like they’d ever dreamed of, ready at any second of any day to get the hell of this planet.

Wynonna nudged her. “We’re finally doin’ it. We’re getting the hell out of here.”

Nicole’s eyes did not leave the window. If she hadn’t nodded, Wynonna wouldn’t have even been sure she was listening. The Earth below them, growing smaller and smaller. Purgatory, a tiny dot lost in a vast world of history and secrets. The people in that town, even smaller than Wynonna thought they were.

Her sister, an ant among them.

Waverly would be fine. Waverly was Waverly.

-

They were a team. They were all one misfit family with their own misfit origins, all working under the safe wings of Bobo Del Rey. They were family, and the most important rule was loyalty. Because if they didn’t help each other, who was going to help them? Family looked after one another. That’s what this was.

Didn’t matter if Rosita Bustillos wanted to slap Wynonna silly, and it didn’t matter Wynonna wanted to rip her throat out. Didn’t matter Nicole and Mercedes Gardner’s younger brother were constantly at odds. They were all a family. Loving one another, hating one another. Family. Team. One unit.

Wynonna did not forget her most important family member. She and Nicole spent every night, looking at the stars. Smoking with the terribly old electronic cigarette Nicole used, even after all these years. They were each other’s highest priorities. Screw everyone else. At the core of things, these two were family long before this crew. Long before any of this.

And yet, Wynonna let everything fall apart.

The weird southern guy with the mustache came around every once in a while. Gave Bobo a nice lead before taking some sort of pay and heading out. Always, he winked at Rosita. The last time Wynonna saw him, he winked at _her_. She tried not to gag.

One of his jobs would leave them with a huge haul. Bring their ship in close, load it up, sell the goods. Military crates withholding food from rebels in an uninhabited world the government suddenly decided it wanted. There were jobs like this sometimes. In a way, this little family was a band of vigilantes. In Wynonna’s opinion, the more they screwed up the government, the better. She knew Nicole had her back on that.

Government was expecting them. Military patrols overloaded them. Orbital Defense goons pouring into the ship like sand in an hourglass, each grain a second closer to time out. Each grain a second closer to the end of it all.

One of them grabbed Wynonna on the way to the eject pods. She shoved him off and shot him with her family’s prized gun. Behind her, Nicole was tackled. Nicole was asking for assistance from her team. From her highest priority.

The police were closing in. Swarming. The seconds ticking and ticking. The grains, becoming heavy.

Wynonna turned around and ran away, for the first time in her life without Nicole Haught. More and more hands grabbing for her as she made her own way for safety. Peacemaker being shot freely. Her fists and boots hitting anything that dare stand in her way.

She would not be caught. She would not let the government take away her right to see the universe. She would not let them take away her right to _be_ something. She pushed her way into the nearest pod and launched herself into the freedom of space.

At the blink of an eye, everything was all on her again. The lone wolf Wynonna always thought she was, painted into life now. No family. No team. No partner by her side.

She abandoned her family.

She was turning into a real Ward Earp, now.

-

Voicemails from Waverly. How did she get the phone number? Was it Nicole? Was Nicole alright? Did she give Waverly her number?

All these years away, and in the voicemails she left, Waverly had no unkind words. No guilt to install into Wynonna for leaving without a goodbye. She let her know Nicole was in the prison just outside of Purgatory, alive. They spoke often.

Waverly was just a phone call away.

No. It was best to leave it alone. No need to involve either in this. No need to let either of them down, ever again. She abandoned them both long ago; she did not deserve them.

Wynonna wanted to explore the universe. See the sights. See all the stars that stared back at her at night. She’d do it by herself if she needed to, damn it. Bobo’s gang might’ve been a thing in the past, but she didn’t need them. She had herself. Her wits. Her gun. Her own ambition.

-

It kept her up at night. Bobo and his old partner turned rival, Lou, accidentally reuniting after all these years going after the same job. The military goons running in and ruining everything. What were the chances? Did Doc Holliday set them up? Was he aware of all the things he screwed up? Did he even care?

She doubted he cared. She’d only met the man once or twice. Everything else she knew from other people. None of it indicated anything about him being a good sport, sprouting charity from his fingertips. If there was money, he was in it. Didn’t matter who won, didn’t matter who lost. So long as he got paid.

Sleeping in an alleyway, hiding under the cover of a dumpster to hide from the rain that just happened to pop out of nowhere, Wynonna made a decision. She would go after him. Go after the money-grubbing asshole who ruined her gang. Her best friend’s life, getting her arrested. And she was going to make a payday off it.

_Doc Holliday: Wanted Dead or Alive._

_150,000 Galactic Points Dead_

_500,000 Galactic Points Alive_

She fiddled with Peacemaker. He’d pay. He would pay, for all of this.

-

It was eleven months of continuous tracking, barely getting by on botched jobs, and steeled determination before Wynonna found Doc Holliday. Sitting at a bar, enjoying a drink. Dead of night, almost morning, on a refueling port on some moon she’d never heard of.

She’d learned, in this strange new place, running in and shouting the name of one of the most wanted men in the galaxy, in the moment, was not the wisest choice.

But hey, she certainly ruined the asshole’s evening.

It was a bloodbath of a brawl. The second heads turned and hands grabbed for their weapons, Doc Holliday proved himself as the fastest draw in all the known galaxies.

Somehow, in the mess, the two ended up escaping together. Doc slithering his snake tongue right onto Wynonna’s ship. Relocated to a separate space port before Wynonna kicked him out, gun pointed at man’s most valued and prized body part.

“This is the part where I shoot your dick off.”

He laughed.

Then he ripped her gun from her own hand and pulled his on her.

“You have a lot to learn, young miss.”

So began the partnership of Doc Holliday and Wynonna Earp.

For years. He wasn’t a bad mentor. A bad influence, sure, but then Wynonna was no saint.

-

Once a month the phone rang. Once a month, there was a voicemail. Over time, they went from minutes long and rich with details to a simple _I don’t even know where you are or if you’re even alive, but. I love you, Wynonna. I hope you’re safe out there._

This is who she was. A scoundrel. A damned dirty Earp like the men before. Like the man she traveled with, beating people down and stealing from them. How was a person like that expected to communicate with a person like her sister?

She’d only ruin Waverly. She was a bad influence, worse with every lesson from Doc she accepted and executed. She was another one of the wanted posters. Waverly didn’t deserve that. Waverly deserved to live a normal, non-Earp life. She was an honest kid. Best to keep it that way.

-

Nicole was released early thanks to good behavior and Nedley’s influence. Wynonna was on the run, unable to return to her own ship, because of Doc’s influence. They hid in a bar for hours before the coast was clear. Then they were off to the next job. The next payday. The next, _screw ‘em, so long as I’m making money._

Sometimes it made her sick to her stomach. But what else was she to do? She was an Earp. She wasn’t made to sit in one place, waiting around for the next paycheck to do something mediocre and label it exciting.

She was Wynonna Earp. She was made for a life like this.

Another voicemail from Waverly, deleted.

But not forgotten.

-

The term “drifter” was not a nickname. It was a factual description. Someone who drifted from place to place. Wynonna and Doc were drifters. They had nowhere to go, and everywhere to be. Everywhere to stay, yet no desire.

There was a talker she’d beaten information out of. For some reason the poor kid was trying to his last breath to protect his boss. Thing was, she needed that information. She didn’t stop pounding her fist into his skull, even as he coughed out an innocent, bloodied inquiry as to why she would do something like this. What kind of monster did something like this, beating someone in the street.

She got the information out of him, eventually.

Stupid kid had a lot of questions. “Why do you do these things? I’m trying to pay off my sister’s medical bills—why do people like you do these things!”

He begged for her not to go find his boss. He would be worse than beaten to a pulp, if she found his boss.

She didn’t care.

She wasn’t Nicole. She wasn’t beating him down for heroic reasons. She was no hero. 

“This is what monsters do, kid.”

Then she was off to the next town. Payday achieved.

Drifting. Beating people in the street. Stealing their money. Taking what she wanted.

Being a god damn Earp.

And for what?

Who even knew.

-

She was in this for herself. Didn’t Waverly get that? Didn’t Doc Holliday get that? Nicole did. She _knew_ Nicole did.

She left Nicole to rot. She didn’t even try to help. Why didn’t Waverly understand that? All these messages she left, for what? What was the purpose? All these messages, for a monster like her? A thug, like her? A lying, thieving, untrustworthy Earp?

It was the same, all over again. All these years with Doc, one of their jobs was bound to get botched in a bad fashion.

All these years with a new partner, Wynonna was bound to do the same thing she did to the last.

Escape, and leave them behind, begging on the ground for help as the cops closed in.

She didn’t see Doc Holliday after that. It wasn’t likely the system was keeping him in prison. If they were, it was only because they found some use in keeping him alive.

Doc had a silver tongue. He’d be fine. Nicole had a charming personality, and she was fine. According to Waverly, Nicole was a shining citizen. Something about her working in some mechanic shop Curtis co-owned.

Prison would be the end for the newest Earp. The system hated the Earps. This is what she had to do to survive. She had to be a monster, to survive.

-

Phone broke. New one had a new number.

No more messages from Waverly. She didn’t even remember Waverly’s number, if she wanted to call. 

There was always social media . . .

No. This was for the best. Waverly wasn’t hers to think about. She lost that right years ago.

-

Unfortunately, Doc’s silver tongue was a huge reason they’d gotten so many good jobs over the years. Wynonna Earp didn’t have much charm. And damn it, she was still pretty clumsy on her own.

Botched freelance bounty hunting jobs. Botched contracts with people who needed certain things “taken care of”. She was lucky if she could get her ship fueled. Mostly she parked at space ports until she got wind of something. Sleeping in her tiny craft’s pilot seat.

Broke and homeless, just like her high school teachers predicted. She wanted to laugh at the thought.

Some lady had a job posting. Help her find some rock in a cave. Somehow the rock was meant to have special properties that would help her kid or something.

She was a strange woman. Carried weird bottles of things and read books in weird languages. Most annoyingly, she thought she was in charge.

But she wasn’t threatening. Would be an easy job. Get the stupid rock, get out. Get paid. Maybe find some place to sleep that wasn’t a pilot’s seat or the cabin floor. Get some real food she didn’t swipe out of a bar. Take a _shower_.

For the first time in years, she thought about her family’s biggest and longest lost secret: the collected treasures of Wyatt Earp II. Moron died before he could pass off the location to his son. Son never found it. His son never found it. Her father died trying to find it. Her father and Bobo spent a lot of time looking for it.

She never fell on that path. Bobo was still after it. Fine by her. She had better luck trying to force some charm into her system to get a job than Bobo would finding the stupid thing.

The universe was a big place. A lot had been discovered, but a lot was still left to discover. Humans were small, and humans often forgot that fact. At the end of the day, one thing would never change, no matter where they found themselves: surviving was the most important and primal aspect of this species. This was Wynonna’s version of surviving; fighting, lying, stealing, cheating. She was no dream chaser. 

-

Constance Clootie was a joke. Wynonna wasn’t sick. No, she couldn’t be sick, that was impossible. There was no way in hell she was actually cursed by some weird lady and her weird books and her weird words. It was all in her head. Constance freaked her out, sure, but Constance was just _weird._

Then why did she feel so strange?

Lightheaded. Passing out at random times. Sick to her stomach. A cough that was slowly getting worse and worse. No, it was her appetite. Her diet wasn’t exactly stellar or consistent, had to be the case.

Months passed. It didn’t go away.

The day she coughed up blood was the day she made the biggest and probably last decision of her life: she was going to do something meaningful.

She was going to go after the Earp family’s lost treasure and leave her sister with something meaningful. She was going to right her wrongs. Pay off her debts, so nothing could follow Waverly. Waverly would not be sucked into this life of mindless drifting. 

She knew just the person to call. The one person more invested in the treasure than any Earp to have ever existed.

-

Bobo Del Rey held no regrets. In fact, he was delighted to have Wynonna back within his ranks. He claimed he hated to see his family broken apart. Sure, whatever, dude.

She was cursed by a witch, sold a magic rock, and now she was chasing dreams. This had to be a VR sim gone wrong.

It was easy and quick to piece together the things Bobo did and did not know. Did: nothing. Did not: everything. Easy. But also not easy at all.

There were certain planets he searched and found nothing on. Several reports that told him nothing but useless materials. There would be an auction soon, one of the items being the journal of a crew member to Josiah Earp. Could be useful.

Soon wasn’t close enough. None of this was moving fast enough. She didn’t have a lot of time left. Bobo had spent all this time, searching, and came across absolutely nothing.

He said this would be easiest with her. An Earp, to access the family vault.

-

More time passed, and with it, no progress. Unrelated jobs here and there, but nothing she was interested in. Nothing useful towards the treasure. They needed an expert. They needed someone who actually looked at all this information and did something with it.

There was one person in the universe who was an expert on all things Earp. But they also happened to be the one person Wynonna did not want to involve in all this. But what choice did she have? She was running out of time.

Bobo was beginning to think of this, as well.

She took a final note of everything Bobo had, everywhere Bobo looked, and snuck out while no one was looking.

She was going to Purgatory. She was not letting Bobo take her sister on his last, desperate effort to get what he sought. 

She was going to take Waverly herself, beat Bobo to the treasure, and set her little sister on her way for good. Preferably before this curse took its hold. 

She hopped the fence to her old high school after hours and made for the history hall. Word on the street was Waverly Earp was still an overachiever who stayed long after hours. Word was she had plenty of her own struggles, as well.

Wynonna knocked on the door to the classroom.

-

TODAY.

The coughing was beginning to become overwhelming. Or maybe right now it had something to do with getting the crap kicked out of her?

Every step she took back to the homestead was a step she regretted. Not as much as she regretted roping her sister into all this business with guns and Bobo, but still pretty high up there.

This was taking too long. The longer it took, the more Bobo got to do. Where the hell was the magic map that led them directly to the treasure and made them rich, instantly? Delivered everything she wanted for Waverly, instantly?

All those missed voicemails. Nicole’s injuries. She missed _everything_ , and she had the perfect chance to miss none of it. Probably missed more. No, _definitely_ missed more.

Constance was right. Her heart was black. There was nothing in there, and there was nothing it ever gave. That kid was right; she was a monster.

She deserved every single one of those hits in the bar. Every single cough that shook her entire body. There was no bit of good she put into the world, even in the rare moments she tried.

She was a damned dirty Earp; a scoundrel; a thief; a liar and a cheater; a monster.

No, she had no idea why she was doing any of this. Nicole was pretty good at all this too, and Nicole ended up going clean. The universe kept stepping on her toes, and yet she had no one to curse. No one to rob or cheat or steal just to feel good about herself.

Wynonna did so much bad to Waverly, and Waverly held no regrets. Not because she wanted the treasure out of her. Because she was Waverly and for whatever reason, at the end of the day, she wanted Wynonna in her life.

Was kindness a fool’s quest, or was it the real gem she needed to chase?

Wynonna walked faster. Faster, to the house. Faster. They all needed to be faster. She needed to get this treasure, for her sister. Before she finally rolled over and died. She needed to pay off Nicole’s debts, before she could no longer fight for her friend. She needed to thank Doc for all the scrapes he got her out of.

Wynonna walked faster. For once in her rotten life, she was ready to do something good.

She was ready to do something meaningful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any time someone so much as LOOKS at this story I scream in pure joy
> 
> So funny thing about the chapter count: I forgot to outline chapter seven and jumped right to eight. And then I combined eight and nine, which became the original seven that never existed. ‘Twas a science. *screams*
> 
> Chapter 5 edited by Mr. @dorianmcgrath, who is either extremely supportive or completely insane. I haven’t decided yet. 
> 
> Thank you thank uuuuu for reaaaddiinnggg, I’ll continue to scream in pure joy over here in the corner don’t mind me thanks
> 
> Next time: Wynonna has a drink. Nicole watches some more TV. Doc appreciates his hat. Waverly finds a super mega big thing. SPACE!


	6. What Was Long Forgotten

Purgatory, Earth.

Galaxy 1.

10:00 p.m., Earth MST.

It was the same. Not an item moved. Not a sound. Not a smell.

It was deeply unsettling.

This was never her home. She was living at Gus’s, for as long as she could remember. The Earp home was a historical relic, in the worst sense possible; it’s where  _ those thieves _ lived. The second Michelle was out of the picture, Gus took the Earp sisters. Didn’t stop Ward from charging in and taking Willa. Showing her what she was meant to be.

Dead. Apparently she was meant to be dead.

And damn it, this place had more dust than the desert itself.

She had one memory of this place, one that reminded her of everything she needed to know about the Earp family: they never, ever got along. The Earp sisters fought, constantly, like bear cubs. But they were together. They were family.

They were  _ supposed  _ to be together, anyhow. They  _ tried _ to be.

Some of them did.

Waverly laughed; she was still furious with Wynonna for leaving. Thirteen years, without a peep. Left Nicole behind, to rot in a prison. Missed Waverly’s high school and college graduations. Missed Nicole’s recovery. Missed the god damn wedding, postponed, for some reason, on the hope she would actually, magically show up.

“Why the hell did I come here? It’s late. This is stupid.”

She found herself in her mother’s old room. Father’s too, but he never seemed to be around. Wynonna must have been his daughter. A box was opened on the floor.

A  _ paper _ journal. Paper! What was this, the 2000s? The 1990s?

Her curiosity took the best of her. The explorer Earp blood.

_ For Willa, Wynonna, and my little Waverly, _

_ My girls. _

__

She read the document.

She dropped the document.

“Oh my god.”

-

Wynonna took one final, unsteady breath before making herself presentable. One final cough, trying to hide what was really going on. This wasn’t the time for talk of sickness. That would come later.

She entered her aunt’s home, to be reunited with Nicole, Doc, Rosita, and the coder. All these years and Abigail Bailey still had the same messy, uncombed, programming-is-difficult-kill-me hair. Running a hand through said messy hair as she produced the answer to the implant’s problems.

Nicole and Rosita looked to be enjoying a pleasant conversation until Wynonna, all her new scrapes and bruises, entered and killed their talk. They asked what happened. Wynonna stole a drink from the kitchen and toasted to their confusion and the fact she had no plans to explain. Sitting somewhere in the corner with a silent grunt.

She was removed when Waverly reentered the home in a flurry, new notebooks— _ paper notebooks _ —in hand, spreading a bunch more notes all over the table. Gus was upset.  _ I just cleaned that table, damn it! _

“What is up with you?” Wynonna asked. Waverly shushed her.

“Everything alright over there?” Nicole was shushed just the same.

Commotion was  _ further _ stirred when the coder and her messy hair shot up from her seat and declared, “It is done!” like some sort of comic line.

“It is done!” Wynonna repeated, giggling to herself like a little kid.

Abigail took the USB the precious code was planted on, and began for the walking computer Wynonna was lifelong friends with. “I’ve made something like this in the past for myself,” she said, indicating her leg, “but this is an upgraded version with extra protection. It’ll put you to sleep though, just as a head’s up.”

Nicole didn’t seem bothered. “Naps haven’t steered me wrong yet.”

She barely had time to utter so much as a thank you before she was out like a light. The coder clapped her shoulder affectionately. Went without words; Nicole helped her in the past when she needed it, and now she was helping Nicole when  _ she _ needed it.

“The program should be able to do everything on its own. But if there’s any problems, you know where to find me. Always happy to help Nicole.”

Wynonna piped up at that, “What was it Nicole did for you? We’re all distasteful people here, come on. There’s no way you  _ want  _ to do this for free.”

Gus seemed to roll her eyes at the idea people didn’t do things from the good of their hearts. Newsflash, Aunt Gus: they did not. Ever.

Abigail was already at the door, but she stopped. Not in an angry way. More like a pleasant memory, taking over her for just a moment. “Nicole made me feel like a person. She  _ talked _ to me, when no one else did.”

Wynonna saw Waverly pause from her madness at that. And smile?

“I’m heading out, too,” Rosita added. “If you need anything, don’t come find me.”

Wynonna raised her drink. “Sure thing, boss.”

Not even a moment later she was instructing Doc to look over Nicole and ran out the door to chase Rosita. She  _ needed _ something.

Rosita wasn’t stupid. She was already waiting for her out on the porch.

“You’re going after that treasure, aren’t you?” she immediately asked, and Wynonna immediately took offense.

“Whoever’s asking should know they’ll get a bullet in the head if they’re looking for money.”

“I don’t need your money. You and Bobo can fight until the end of time looking for that legend, I don’t care.” She nodded towards the door. “Why follow me out?”

“You’re a biochemist, right? There’s got to be something I can do. Something I can take or-or,  _ something _ to slow this thing down. I need more time.”

Rosita softened. Wynonna Earp was actually  _ worried.  _ She wasn’t equipped for something as odd as that. “There’s not much I can do. It’s going to happen, whether you like it or not. The scanner didn’t recognize whatever it is you have.”

Wynonna sighed. Her breath shaky.

“The best you can do is make peace with your life and your family, and take it easy.”

Wynonna was breathing faster now, more broken. Biting the inside of her lip defensively, as water rushed to her eyes. “I’m—I’m  _ scared,  _ Rosita.”

“Give this up, then. This treasure hunting—just sit down and spend time with your sister, before it’s too late. You’ve been apart forever, just take a moment—”

“This is all I have to offer,” Wynonna snapped, soft exterior forgotten for frustration, “after a whole  _ life  _ of doing wrong!” She made to return indoors, forgetting Rosita now. “I’m not stopping.”

From the porch, Rosita shouted her last contribution, “You’re being a stubborn jackass!”

The door slammed. The house jumped with it, but Wynonna did not care as she crossed the room. “Being a stubborn jackass is the only reason I’m still alive.”

Doc was fussing with his hat, perhaps impatiently, when Wynonna sat next to him and Nicole. He asked if she wanted to talk the second she arrived. She ignored him and stole Nicole’s radio instead. Synced her own phone to it.

“Do not mess with Nicole’s music, Wynonna.”

“Do not mess with Nicole’s music, butt face,” Wynonna mocked. Continuously mocking him until he gave up. Leaving to go smoke on the porch.

Wynonna caught Waverly, across the room. No longer fussing over Nicole, but obsessively making new notes, flipping through whatever it was she rushed into the house with. Turning pages in a hurry, notating everything so fast she was bound to pop her wrist right off.

Wynonna looked back at her phone.

-

Purgatory, Earth.

Galaxy 1.

6:55 a.m., Earth MST.

Wynonna was already awake when Nicole woke up. That was the first thing she noticed. The second was her breathing, and the third was the absence of chest pains.

The program was working. She wondered if her legs were—

Nicole grabbed the TV remote and changed the channel from some overnight infomercial to one of the old shows her and Waverly watched. Another glimpse into the past. Surprisingly, Wynonna didn’t complain. The only thing she did was ask Nicole how she was feeling.

“I feel fine. No chest pain, no problems breathing, nothing.”

Wynonna seemed to smile at that.

“It feels so good, I almost don’t want to turn the legs back on. I mean, what if—”

“I got it! I got it!” Shouting from the dining table broke the conversation. The shouter ran closer to Nicole and Wynonna, not to check in, but to tell them to call Jeremy and gather back on the ship.

Nicole tried not to be offended, as she dialed Jeremy’s number.

Tried not to be offended, as they all piled back into the car and headed back for the ship, a rushed farewell to Gus as they all moved out.

Nicole barely even noticed how well her leg stims were working, and the fact the back pain she came to live in tandem with seemed to disappear. The person she cared about the most didn’t pay it any mind, so she didn’t pay it any mind.

Gus stopped them at the car. Loaded the trunk with a bunch of homemade food and told them she’d give Curtis their regards. Hardly any other words or sounds were made as they rushed off to the busted up old ship.

-

They found Dolls, waiting for them with a whole new stash of weapons from Black Badge. Though no one got a word about the subject out before Waverly was dumping her research on the table in the center of the cabin and getting down to whatever it was that made her rush everyone out here.

“This,” she began, that crazed look of an explorer on her face as she held up one of the paper journals, “is the personal journal of Michelle Gibson.”

“What?” Wynonna asked. No longer leaning back in her seat, apparently already bored.

Waverly was nodding. “Mama’s journal.” She placed it gently on the table. Wynonna immediately grabbed it.

“Well! What the hell does it say!” She flipped through the pages frantically, before quitting and setting the item aside. “Who the hell can even read that handwriting,” she grumbled.

The grin on Waverly’s face only grew wider. “ _ I _ can, and she was up to a  _ lot,  _ Wynonna.”

And yet, the only thing that came to Wynonna’s mind was their mother leaving without warning. Without any real reason. Leaving them with Ward, the idiot that took Willa and got her killed.

“The Earps and the Gibsons have been rivals for generations, all the way back to Wyatt II’s time. At this point no one's really sure which side started it, but they’ve stolen from each other forever now.”

“So what,” Wynonna asked, “our parents were some kind of weird Romeo and Juliet situation? You know, if Romeo and Juliet hated each other?”

“In a way. They were rivals, too. One night they were pursuing the same job and the squabble that broke out between them attracted the local authorities. They hid out for a while in a bar. A few drinks later, they ended up  _ creating  _ Willa.”

There was already a beer in Wynonna’s hand, toasting. “Drunken fucking; true Earp fashion.”

“Having Willa forced them to call a truce. They were never happy—”

“Duh.”

“—but they stayed together. Now, here’s the big part: Mama left because she had business with the  _ Gibson  _ family vault to attend to. Those bounty hunters shot her down because she went out of hiding—it’s the reason she was out in the first place.”

The room fell silent, except for Doc whistling. Wynonna put her drink down. Asking, “Wait. Wait, hold on.We’re going after two vaults?”

Waverly nodded, slowly. “We’re going after two vaults. Mama didn’t specify where—probably because she married an Earp—but she left us a clue. We just have to follow it.”

“Where?”

“The moon, Valor. The planet it orbits is owned by a corporation of the same name for resources. The planet itself doesn’t have a name. The moon—”

“Is another rich person place,” Wynonna grumbled. Doc nudged her.

“All the more pockets to pick,” he winked.

Dolls glared at his deputy, who promptly stopped grinning.

“Valor is a giant entertainment hub,” Nicole recalled. “It’s like Las Vegas. There are huge casinos, all of them always busy. We should be able to slip in and look around without anyone noticing us.” She stood. “I’ll set a course.”

Off without another word. Not even a sneaky little wink for Waverly or the smallest attempt of praise. Odd. Was Nicole actually  _ mad _ ?

Dolls broke Waverly from her observation, and the argument that followed kept her from refocusing.

“I will be joining you on this ship. No need to take two.”

Wynonna was not slow to start, “Whoa, whoa whoa, back up. Don’t come in here and invite yourself, buddy.”

“I’ve seen Bobo Del Rey. You’ll need my help and my  _ resources,”  _ he argued, sternly.

“Well, I’ve seen you drive! Not impressed!”

“I will arrest Bobo Del Rey, and then I’ll be out of your hair.” He grabbed the stash of guns and began moving himself into Jeremy’s room. Not that Jeremy invited him, either.

“Don’t talk about my hair!” Wynonna called. When she looked away to grab for her drink, Waverly followed after Dolls. Was gone when Wynonna looked up again.

Before Dolls could lock the door to the room, his prized stash of weapons in hand, Waverly was before him.

“I’m not asking you to leave,” she said, aware they needed extra firepower against Bobo. “I’m asking you for a favor.”

Dolls had a soft spot for Waverly Earp, like most people seemed to. “What is it?”

“Wynonna doesn’t know I’m married to Nicole. Please, it’s being kept secret.”

He seemed amused by that. “I thought you were all fiercely loyal to each other.”

Waverly had no response to that. Helplessly, she looked down the hall. Wynonna and Doc sharing a drink. “We’ll tell her, just—not right now. things are too much right now.”

“When, then?”

“When things are right.”

Again, he seemed amused at that.

-

“So, here we are, movin’ on to the next planet. Carryin’ the same, awfully heavy load.”

“I will tell her,” Wynonna scoffed at Doc. “You don’t need to worry about that. You don’t need to worry about anything, actually.”

She scoffed again, rolling her eyes. Beyond annoyed, at this point.

“When things are right, I will tell Waverly everything.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The “I’m scared” line was stolen from Red Dead Redemption 2, thank u
> 
> Polished once again by Mr. @dorianmcgrath, whom I am CONVINCED is insane. Stay tuned for updates on the matter
> 
> And with this chapter marks the end of Act I. And we’re nearly halfway, as well. Next time, we follow the team as they navigate the entertainment hub of the moon, Valor. Shenanigans ensue.
> 
> Y’all’re too kind, got dam. Your words,,, they’re makin’ me soft,,,


	7. Win Some, Lose Some

Space.

Galaxy 77.

2:00 p.m., Earth EST.

Nicole broke out of her slump when dubstep music started playing. On _her_ radio. She checked her phone. It was set to play some band from the 2000s Waverly was talking with her about. Which meant . . .

She rushed out of the pilot’s seat and turned around, right for the table in the cabin. Wynonna, sitting in a way that looked most uncomfortable.

“Have you ever considered buying couches or something for this place?” she asked, and found no amusement on Nicole’s end. “These table chairs are for ignoring each other at dinner, not chilling out.”

“You hacked into my radio,” Nicole frowned.

Wynonna began to stifle laughter. “Nope. You’re a dubstep enthusiast, don’t you remember?” As part of the act, Wynonna fell serious. “You don’t think—”

“That code didn’t scramble my brain, or whatever it is you’re trying to do. Take your stupid phone off.”

Nicole was gone before Wynonna could mutter a word. She looked to Waverly across from her for help.

“Just give her back her music, Wynonna,” Waverly said, not helping at all. “Clearly it’s all she wants.”

Wynonna elected to keep quiet and trace her sister’s eyes instead. Staring straight ahead. And straight ahead from where Waverly sat was . . .

“My god, are you really gonna stare at the poor girl all day, kid?”

Waverly barely registered her sister. Her eyes did not leave Nicole. Sitting in the pilot’s seat, though there was no need to even _be_ there—the ship drove itself!

“She’s mad and I just _know_ it’s my fault. Is she mad we’re continuing? I didn’t even ask her, Wynonna, what if—”

The sound of Wynonna’s laughter made Waverly stop. Made her kind of mad, actually. Just once, she couldn’t be a little helpful?

“You are not that stupid, Waverly Earp.”

Okay, that was _really_ not helping.

“All the BFF stuff between you two? And you haven’t once asked her about her treatment? Of course she’s pissed. Nicole’s sensitive like that.”

Waverly immediately looked at the pilot’s seat again. Nicole was looking at the stars like she was trying to kill them herself. “I’m an idiot,” Waverly confessed, the realization hitting her at the speed of a train. “I am an idiot.”

“Eh. Just win big at the slots and buy her some couches and maybe she’ll be a happy camper again.”

Waverly looked away from Nicole. “What is the deal with this moon? Anything I should know? Anything I wouldn’t have read, I mean?”

“Just a bunch of rich snots throwing tantrums because they suck at poker and don’t know how to bet sensibly. Nothing special. I think I might know where Mama would’ve hidden a clue, though.”

“Where?” Waverly sat up, invested.

“There are these old smuggling caverns. Thieves used to use them, when Valor was first established. Some people still use them, but not a lot of heists or thefts really happen on Valor anymore. Security bumped up. Back in the day, thieves would stash stolen chips they took from tables and peoples’ pockets. They’d come back and cash them at a later time, or in small batches until they walked away with everything they took.”

“I wonder if Bobo will show up again.”

Wynonna shook her head. “Doubt it. Last time he was on Valor he made a huge scene.”

“Wait, you’ve been on Valor before?”

“Sure have.”

Of course she has. Waverly tried not to be jealous.

“Don’t worry,” Wynonna caught on, “it wasn’t anything glamorous. But, speaking of Bobo . . .”

Next thing Waverly knew, she was being dragged over to the corner of the cabin designated to the VR shooting set. All the different guns associated with it spread out on the ground. Wynonna grabbed a pistol. Waverly had no idea what to do when it was handed to her.

“I’m not fond of the idea of you being out there, unsure how to defend yourself.”

“I can handle myself.”

Wynonna smacked her in the back of the head. “You didn’t handle _that_ , did you?”

Smacked her again. Waverly smacked her back. On and off until one of them, the older and theoretically more mature one, stopped them.

“Knock it off!”

“You started it, Wynonna!”

“Well you’re—Okay! Let’s focus, you stupid butt face.”

Without warning, Wynonna slapped the VR headset on her little sister’s head. The corresponding gloves, with the same sudden motions. The simulation before Waverly’s eyes was a simple shooting range. Target, yards away in another reality, waiting for her to make a move.

For a moment, Wynonna detached the visor over her eyes. Showed her the proper way to hold a gun. Left hand holding the base of the right hand for stability, every finger on the right hand but for the pointer, holding steady onto the grip. Right hand resting in the palm of the left, safely. Pointer finger not quite on the trigger. Not until she was ready to claim a target. Wynonna showed her the safety. How to turn it off, and, more importantly, how to turn it on.

A warning about how harsh a real gun’s kick was going to compare to the test kick of the VR set’s sim.

“And most importantly, Waverly—”

“Make sure the safety is on?”

“Nope. Well, yeah, but no. Whether or not that gun is primed, whatever you point it at, is what you intend to kill. There are no mistakes with guns, Waverly. Everything, _everything,_ is the responsibility of the person behind it. Can you handle that?”

There was a short pause. Consideration. And then a determined, serious, “I can handle that.”

Wynonna nodded. Before she roughly started moving her sister’s legs into a proper stance, one strong enough to hold her against the kick of the weapon. As funny as it would be to see Waverly fall flat on her ass.

Sim started. Simple course. Nothing fancy, just a simulation of bullets heading towards the target across the way. The gun giving as realistic a kick as it could. Waverly’s virtual shooting mimicking what they didn’t have in real life. This wasn’t a fancy military ship, after all.

“How’d I do?”

She took the silence as reason to take the headset off. Wynonna’s expression was not promising.

That’s when Nicole passed them by. “Watch your footwork.”

Then she was off again. Even Wynonna looked disappointed by this apparent silent treatment.

Waverly put the headset back on.

-

Staring into space in dramatic and cinematic frustration could only go on for so long before it became boring. Nicole had never really been frustrated with Waverly before. Waverly had never really been _absent_ before.

Maybe she was just overreacting.

She slumped into one of the chairs at the wide wooden table. Yes, admittedly, uncomfortable to sit in. But maybe it was Nicole’s evil plot to make everyone else’s backs bad, too.

Jeremy was sitting next to Doc, playing some game on his laptop. Doc looked beyond confused. Probably because Jeremy put so many mods into the poor game it wasn’t really a real _game_ anymore.

It was beyond entertaining to watch.

“I have never understood these computer games,” Doc grumbled, finally giving up. Jeremy just laughed.

“Does that mean we’ll find you at the tables in ths casinos?” Nicole asked. Doc seemed to smile at the idea.

“I do have a particular talent for cleaning the table.”

“Just don’t make the rich people _too_ mad, now.”

“Oh, but I do enjoy watchin’ ‘em fume.”

There was laughter, before a pause. Jeremy’s gutted game, making all types of odd noises. Then Nicole asked, eyeing the Earp sisters, “So, is Wynonna Earp still the same shoot-first-ask-questions-never person I grew up with?”

It brought Doc to a chuckle. “She certainly has a temper that, at times, brought me to stress, but there was rarely a squabble we could not find ourselves out of.”

“So many squabbles, then?”

“A fair amount,” Doc admitted. “What about the younger Earp? What can you tell me about Waverly?”

It was several minutes of smiley gushing about her secret wife. Starting with the smile, oh the lovely Waverly Earp _smile_ . Then it was the personality. Not the glossed over, give-the-town-what-they-want personality. No, the _real_ Waverly Earp. The Waverly Earp who woke up in the middle of the night and started talking about cultural habits of the 1980s. The first moon landing. The virus that shook the world at the beginning of the 2020s. The Waverly Earp who constantly fell asleep with books in her hand on the couch, and grumbled when Nicole tried to take her to bed, because she wasn’t done reading yet. The great and second space race of the 2040s. How lovely the real Waverly Earp was, and what the small-minded people of Purgatory were missing all along.

Going on and on until Doc finally spoke, “It seems you’ve really taken a shine to the young miss.”

“Not fair. Everyone in Purgatory ‘takes a shine’ to Waverly Earp. It’s when Waverly takes a shine to _you_ when things matter.”

“It seems so.” He made full note of the way Nicole stared at Waverly. The silly guilt that came with being upset with someone. “Do not be too upset with her, now. You know how it goes. The addiction, of adventure.”

Nicole looked at Doc, then back on Waverly. “Yeah. I remember.” She sighed. “A little too well.”

-

Valor.

Galaxy 77.

6:55 p.m., Valor Standard Time.

Waverly looked out the window. The surface of the moon looked back at her. The other parts of the casino, staring back at her, thick glass plating keeping them all safe from the raw atmosphere of space.

This was a place she read about in books. In news articles. She read about the red and orange patterns on the floor, the carpet the softest material her boots ever touched. The slot machines. The poker tables with the robotic dealers. Roulette wheels telling people to finalize their bets. Walking through long, connecting hallways and entering new casinos, each with different themes. There were even live sports and live shows here. Her small town brain could barely _fathom_ the idea of all this, in one place.

Or the fact she was here to experience it in person.

Excitedly, she looked over her shoulder to share her enthusiasm with Nicole. But her wife was somewhere else, gambling. Trying to blend in. The others were in pairs, scattered all across the casinos, looking for whatever smuggler’s entrance it was Wynonna was talking about. 

By the looks of it, _Nicole_ wasn’t all here.

No more sidestepping. Waverly pulled her away from the table.

“Did you find it?” Nicole asked, though it was still a bit blandly.

“I did something stupid.” Nicole seemed to grow concerned at that. “I ignored you, and focused on this stupid treasure instead. I’m sorry.”

Nicole just shrugged. Was kind of frustrating to see, actually. “I’m not really worried about it.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Not sure yet.”

And with that, Nicole was returning to the roulette table she was taken from.

Waverly sighed. She didn’t know whether to follow her back to the table or go somewhere else. So she elected to stand awkwardly in the walkway. Sometimes that’s just how it was.

 _No more bets, thank you._ Nicole watched the ball spin for a complete second before she was out of her seat and chasing down Waverly. Short chase.

“I don’t blame you,” Nicole said, sincerely. “You’ve been trying to find a real lead since we started. I know you were excited. After hitting all those dead ends, I know how happy you must’ve been.”

“But that doesn’t make it okay. I wasn’t there for—”

“I wasn’t there for you, either.”

Waverly didn’t look convinced. “How are you feeling?”

“Honestly? I’m kind of trying not to think about it. If I realize I’m happy with them, maybe they’ll stop working again. Just like the last time. It’s my curse, I think.”

There was a laugh at that, one that loosened up the mood. “You’re cursed, huh?” Waverly asked. Nicole grinned.

“I’m cursed! Don’t laugh!”

“My poor baby,” Waverly said, grabbing Nicole’s hands. “No pain? No complications?”

“No. This is the best I’ve ever felt! Imagine if we did this the first time. I mean, imagine if I never did the stupid surgery. Imagine if I just had someone write something to stop the malfunctioning.”

“I’m sorry it didn’t get fixed the first time.”

“I mean my neck, where I fell, that still hurts, but—Everything is _better._ ”

Waverly was beyond relieved to hear that.

Nicole continued, “But, on the bright side, we can finally do this treasure hunting thing properly. Like in the movies; no need to take things back in favor of what’s going on. We can do this, _together_.”

Nicole grinned, wider.

“I’m finally healed again.”

-

“Come on, Dolls, you’re not even gonna put in _one_ Point? You bought a whole game card!”

Dolls, at Jeremy’s side, shook his head. Arms crossed, face blank. Blank! In a massive entertainment hub!

“Come on, man! Relax a little!” Jeremy pulled on the crank of his slot machine to emphasize his point.

Dolls didn’t seem to care. “I want to focus on the mission. I can gamble and throw my money away later.”

“Wow,” Jeremy laughed to himself, turning the slots again, “BBD is really stressing you out, my grumpy friend.”

Dolls’s face twitched. “Fine. I’ll play your game.”

He sat next to Jeremy, uncrossed his arms, placed a gaming card into the machine, pulled the crank, and crossed his arms again. Won nothing. Pulled the crank again. Nothing. Pulled again.

“Ooo!” Jeremy exclaimed. “Twenty bucks!”

No reaction, just Dolls pulling the crank until he became tired of it and set the game to automatically bet. Few wins, many losses. How casinos make their money. It was a good few minutes before Jeremy poked his head into Dolls’s space.

“Having fun?”

“I will admit,” Dolls said, though he refused to turn to look at his friend, continuing to blankly stare at the machine, “things have been hard. Black Badge is not an easy organization to work for. But once I get Bobo Del Rey? I’m set; my debts are cleared.”

There was a sigh from Jeremy. One of understanding. “I really hope this treasure thing works out. I’d like to settle my stuff, too. Finally propose to Robin, you know?”

That’s when Dolls finally looked at him. That’s when Dolls made a new goal to his ultimate objective, to make sure all this went well. For Jeremy and Nicole, his two crewmates. The only other people in the universe who understood what he was going through. He would get Jeremy and Robin the wedding ring they deserved. The _wedding_ they deserved. No one in his crew was going to suffer this maddening debt any longer. 

Get Jeremy and Nicole the treasure. Arrest Bobo Del Rey. Arrest Wynonna Earp. Take the profits and start a new life.

Make room to relax.

-

Wynonna couldn’t believe Dolls actually trusted her and Doc to pair up and wander a casino. Unsupervised. Doc already scammed a couple hundred bucks out of some poor fools in poker. They’d have the whole building, by the end of the night!

“You have a very obvious tell, Wynonna,” Doc said. Before promptly taking the rest of her chips.

There would be a robbery, but not before a _murder._

“And you have an ugly mustache and a stupid hat,” she shot back.

“It is a fine hat,” he said, tipping it to her. She rolled her eyes.

With nothing left to do while Doc played out the rest of the game with the other lucky sucker on the table, Wynonna began to look around. People watch. Mentally fish for wallets.

There was someone staring back at her.

She stared at Doc until he got the message and cashed out.

“Have we been made?” he asked. She didn’t answer. Only pushed them further and deeper into the nearest crowd.

There was some sort of live performance going on in an open bar. They hung out here a moment before skipping over to the next casino in this giant cluster. Getting lost in some other crowd waiting for a raffle. Another few moments before exiting.

“Do you see them?” she asked. Doc’s eyes were always sharper than hers, anyhow.

“I do not believe—”

A knife flew just past Doc’s face.

“I do not believe we are in the clear!” he corrected himself.

There were innocent gasps from innocent people, as the two criminals began the chase, the chaser happily beginning this ugly dance. Criminals jumping desperately over blackjack tables and winding through lines and lines of slot machines. Carelessly pushing the confused bodies that so stupidly stood in their way. _Move assholes, there’s a bounty hunter after us!_

-

Dolls impatiently burst into the bathrooms. “Jeremy, you are taking way too long, what is going on—”

He paused.

“What are you doing?”

Jeremy, sitting on the floor of a public restroom like someone who was either extremely brave or extremely stupid, inspecting the bottom of a trash can. Some other guy looked at him funny before swiftly exiting, his hands still sopping wet. Anything to get away from the weird guy sitting on the floor, admiring a trash can.

The grand explanation: “This trash can is suspicious.”

“Please stop harassing that trash can.”

Jeremy continued to fondle the trash can further.

The back panel popped off. Dolls was ready to scold Jeremy, but the sight of stone stopped him.

Behind the trash can loosely “bolted” into the wall, suspicious with reason, was the entrance to the smuggler’s tunnels.

Dolls immediately grabbed for his phone and called Nicole. He and Jeremy didn’t wait up. Could be a few minutes before they got here, and they weren’t wasting any time. 

In the few minutes it took Nicole and Waverly to arrive, they discovered plenty. Carvings and sketches on the cave walls. Initials next to the amount of Points they’d stolen. Whole maps of the casinos and their entry and exit points through these tunnels. Doodles of cartoon thieves sticking their tongues out at the corporation who owned Valor. Perhaps even founder Jimmy Valor himself. 

Waverly had a field day.

“The 2181 Davidson Poker Scam!” Looking at the team like they knew what the hell was going on. Going all throughout the cave walls, successfully identifying each and every one of the heists based on amount and initials alone. Nicole watched her, with some pride.

“Where are the other two?” Dolls interrupted the tour after a few minutes. 

Nicole reported, as Waverly kept mumbling heists to herself, “No answer. She and Doc probably snuck off somewhere.”

A sigh. “Lovely.”

“She’s never been good about answering calls,” Waverly joked dryly. Then she caught herself and refocused on the scribblings in front of her.

“Anything yet?” Dolls asked her. “Assuming this is the place your mother wanted us to go?”

Waverly shook her head. Then she instructed everyone to look for something with either Michelle’s initials or the drawing she left all over the paper notebooks: angel wings.

Sure enough, after countless silly sketches and opportunities for thieves to brag to other thieves, they found something. An amount with far too many zeros. Signed “MG”. Angel wings next to it. Waverly was the only one smart enough to take a picture of the map next to it. The rest of them, apparently, were planning on winging it. 

The picture portrayed a large formation of rocks, an opening in the center of the dome cave it created. It just so happened they saw such a location on the way in.

“Rock climbing it is,” Nicole said.

“Why can’t the treasure just be on a limitless credit card?” Jeremy asked. “What’s with the ancient caves?”

The group shuffled into the casino, one by one from the bathroom. Moving far away to look a little less suspicious. It wasn’t until they stopped, Nicole replied, “For the aesthetic of it. Duh. You’ve seen the movies. They wouldn’t just—”

A sweaty and disgruntled man, shuffling a hat in his hand, sprinted over to the group with such panic even his mustache looked nervous.

“Holliday! Where have you been?” Dolls asked. “I knew I shouldn’t have let you—”

“Wynonna has been arrested!” he said, and immediately Dolls looked ready to shoot himself into the depths of space.

“What did she do, cheat at poker? Pick someone’s pocket?”

Doc was not sharing in the spirit of humor. Panting without end, he dumped his hat back on his own head, fixed his hair accordingly, and explained, “A bounty hunter recognized the two of us. They grabbed Wynonna—it is a God-given miracle I got out of there!”

Dolls stepped closer to him, frustrated and pointing to the communicator in his ear. “Why didn’t you call it in?”

“Wynonna’s fell out.” He went blank. “And I, um, I forgot mine on the ship.”

“Jesus Christ.”

“Wynonna tried, but hers fell right out of her ear. Some fool likely stepped on it by now.”

“So now what do we do, Henry? Huh? Just let her go?” The level of rage in Dolls’s voice was concerning.

“I do not—Hold up a moment. The bounty hunter said somethin’ about us not bein’ her targets. There is a holding cell on this facility.”

“Maybe she went back for her real target,” Nicole finished. “Or you.”

“I do remember where that holding facility is.” He smiled at that. “Been there many a time.”

-

“Just keep an eye on her for me.” The bounty hunter looked over Wynonna. “I’ll be back, and we’ll be gone before you know it.”

The guard didn’t look too happy about it. “This one’s got a mouth on her.”

Wynonna winked at him from the rusty old cell she was thrown in. “I’ll rock your world, buddy.”

The bounty hunter sighed impatiently. “Look, I will pay you to keep her here. I need to find the person I came here for, then we’ll be out of your hair.” They looked over Wynonna again. “This one’s just a bonus.”

They left before they could hear the guard complain, asking how on Valor this annoying new prisoner was a bonus to anything. Wynonna very maturely made a _your mom!_ joke in retaliation.

The second he turned around, she was eyeing every existing crevice for the solution to her escape.

-

Waverly absolutely did not regret “recruiting” Dolls. Where else were they supposed to get oxygen masks to protect themselves from the absent atmosphere of this moon?

Pocket-sized necklaces. They expanded and rebuilt themselves into the type of space bounty hunter helmet one would find in a 1970s comic book. Automatically cycled oxygen, and projecting some sort of protective and cloaked field around the user’s body.

Alternatively: Dolls had some cool shit.

The prison was not large. It wasn’t even medium, and it was barely small. Essentially, it was a shack with a couple cells to hold rowdy casino-goers. It wasn’t attached to any of the casinos, the way all the establishments were connected to one another. It was a separate building one or two miles away. Different artificial gravity. Different oxygen system, with a giant dome surrounding the outside of the building for the sake of guard patrols. Its own little island.

Dolls and Nicole referenced some old mission they did in the past, calling it “Z-11” before completely breaking apart. Dolls one way, Nicole the other. Rest of the team standing around among the space rocks, probably less knowledgeable in this moment. The exception of Jeremy, who was giggling to himself.

Things took an even weirder turn when Xavier Dolls positioned himself a perfect distance from the holding center, hid behind a large boulder, and began to _howl._

Nicole took off full speed for the rear of the facility. Not a breath wasted after some of the front guards mumbled something about “drunken tourists” and made their way to the noise. Dolls left and took position somewhere else to keep the distraction up.

The one guard in the rear was asleep at his post. She easily stepped past him and cycled the building’s independent airlock, separate from the dome surrounding the outside. Inside was no different. Not like there were many guards, and it wasn’t like they had much to do. Mostly, they stepped outside to have a taste of the excitement.

It was no surprise Nicole could simply waltz right over to Wynonna’s cell, make a smug expression, and open the lock with a key she lifted on the way over. However, it was a surprise when the two turned around and found a gun pointed at them.

“Nice try.”

“Jailbreak of the year, Haught,” Wynonna grumbled.

“I’m a little rusty,” Nicole defended.

They were thrown into the same cell, likely for the one good guard’s enjoyment, as they bickered. He turned up some chess podcast he was listening to and lounged in the seat of the empty desk he claimed.

“Well, great, Haught, now we’re in hell.” Wynonna banged her palms against the bars. “Chess! Really!”

“You can stay and listen to chess all you want.” Nicole lowered her voice, “But I’m getting out of here.”

The key was flashed briefly, before it was tucked away. Not like this guard searched her much before he threw her in the cell. Even the one good guard was an idiot. God save Valor.

“Okay,” Wynonna said, “maybe you are forgiven. And here I was, finally ready to spend some quality jail time with you!”

“Careful, you might turn into an upstanding citizen. The bills and the taxes are _not_ worth it.”

The cell door opened, and instantly the pair sprinted full speed out of it. Wynonna stealing back Peacemaker from another empty table. Guy barely noticed before he was back on his feet, yelling. Down the hall the two ran, looking back at him and laughing.

Before they physically ran into someone else and fell over, and this new person took the very simple opportunity to handcuff them together.

“Damn it!” the chess guy yelled. “You both _suck_!”

A gunshot from outside distracted him long enough for Wynonna to stand up and kick him in the face, dragging Nicole along.

And from there, chaos was ignited.

The brawl that broke out was more Wynonna than Nicole. Not because Nicole couldn’t, but because Wynonna moved so fast she was practically swinging Nicole around like a rag doll. Eventually Nicole grew sick of it, grabbed Wynonna by her shoulders, and pushed her back-first against the crowd until they were outside, tripping over each other, swearing and shoving.

The first thing Wynonna did was shove Nicole in the other direction.

“What the hell, Haught!”

“Don’t what the hell _me,_ what the hell _you_!”

“No! You first! What the hell! I’m not a human shield!”

“I’m not a baseball bat to swing around!”

Guards were catching up to them. They shoved one another one final time before running so awkwardly across the rocky plains of the moon. Dust kicking from under their boots, pebbles flying all over the place. Warning shots threatening to graze their legs.

Somewhere along the way, their team began tacking on, one by one. First Dolls, to yell at them. Then Waverly, to yell at them. Then Jeremy, to yell in general. Finally Doc, to yell at the guards chasing them. A lot of yelling was going on. Yelling and chasing. So much for that dude’s calming chess podcast.

Someone rudely lit the oil field on fire when the bounty hunter showed up.

The team ran faster. Wynonna cursed. Nicole feared her arm was going to pop off. Jeremy yelled, rather loudly.

Louder, when the bounty hunter and the guards managed to surround them. The captured target the hunter was originally after, was running off in the distance. Forgotten for now.

“Nicole, quick!” Wynonna yelled. “Throw that asshole across the moon!”

The bounty hunter was not amused. Still, Nicole considered it.

Dolls took this silent and awkward opportunity to step between his team and the hunter. From one bounty hunter to another, he asserted with authority. “Enough of this. On behalf of the Black Badge Division of Galactic Bounty Hunters, I order you to—”

The smile from under the bounty hunter’s helmet stopped him.

From the window in Dolls’s helmet, the team could see a _smile_ in return _._

The two hunters laughed and brought a calm to the mess.

The stranger waved off the guards. “I’ll take it from here.”

Chess guy left with a loud sigh. “More than happy to pass this problem off,” he grumbled. His buddies followed, and suddenly they were alone.

Dolls’s smile did not die. “Sorry, Eliza, this one is mine. I’ve recruited her to help me hunt down Bobo Del Rey.”

His buddy Eliza nodded. “Bobo Del Rey. That’s a big name, X. The biggest _._ ”

“Well, I am an overachiever.” Smiling wider. 

Wynonna wanted to barf. He was not actually flirting right now, was he?

“Well,” Eliza continued, circling around Dolls now to face the rest of his crew, “overachiever, there’s something you ought to know. Wynonna Earp’s bounty has gone up.”

Oh look, Wynonna was famous.

“How does that figure?” Doc asked. Eliza seemed thrown off by his voice. And the fact there was a hat on top of his helmet.

“Bobo Del Rey has made it known Wynonna is still active. And that she knows the location of a gigantic treasure.” She turned back to Dolls. “I would be careful with your new partner, Xavier. Might be more trouble than she’s worth.”

And just like that, she was gone. Dolls tried to say goodbye but for some reason told her he’d see her tomorrow. Did not do a good job of hiding his embarrassment.

“I am surprised you did not kiss her farewell,” Doc teased. Dolls snapped back into Dolls Mode at that.

“Let’s keep going. Waverly, where’s that cave?”

Wynonna took note of this.

-

“That is quite a height.”

It was quite a height. But, it was the only way in. Wynonna and Nicole approached the cliff face like the practiced professionals they were, ropes in hand. They returned to the jail to remove their handcuffs. Took a souvenir. Without a breath, as if magnetized, they began climbing right away.

Wynonna nudged Nicole. “I’ll race you.”

The challenge was accepted with a light-hearted, “You’re on.”

Wynonna had this in the bag. She was still in shape for this sort of thing. Practiced. Never stopped for a minute, never mind for a good few years. She would finally beat Nicole Haught, the goody goody, at something—the very best thing she could do, at that.

And then the asshole began to advance ahead of her.

Nicole wasn’t slow. There were no signs of her slowing, either. No signs of her _needing_ to slow. Just that stupidly cocky grin of hers, as her and her newly improved implants scaled these crumbling rocks like it was nothing.

What an _asshole._

Not even a moment later, to make matters more aggravating, last place moved from second to sixth. But, on the bright side, that meant Nicole was fifth. 

Dolls and his cool toys, Dolls and his set of _grappling hooks,_ carried the rest of the team above with no effort.

“Cheaters!” Nicole and Wynonna yelled.

At the top, Waverly offered to help them up. Wynonna cursed her away. She cursed her again, when she and Nicole finally made it to the top and flopped on their backs to catch their breaths.

“Back in our day,” Wynonna said, not moving an inch from the ground, “we climbed!”

Waverly shrugged, and she wanted to curse her again.

“Pays to be on the right side of the law, doesn’t it?” Dolls joked, as if matters needed to be severe enough for Xavier Dolls to tell a _joke._ “Do you two need a minute, or can we keep going?”

“You can go right on down to hell,” Wynonna grumbled. Nicole told them to keep going.

Leaving them to sit here, out of breath, efforts and pride busted by the common man’s laziness. What a universe this was. Not a bad view, though.

“Grappling hooks,” Wynonna started again.

“What a bunch of wusses,” Nicole agreed.

“We’re a couple of hella cool space goons, and they’re just gonna have to get over it.”

Nicole laughed, before sitting up. Absolutely no extra effort needed to do so. She just simply sat up. “I really missed you, Wynonna.”

The statement seemed to catch Wynonna by surprise, the way she turned her head so quick. The brief moment it took her to process it, as if she’d thought otherwise. “Me, too, Haught.” A sigh, “I thought about you all the time.”

They were both sitting upright now, side by side, watching the land in silence. Winds carrying the dust to new places all over the moon’s surface. The dust, on adventures of their own. Undying lights blaring from the cluster of casinos, happy voices cheering from inside.

“I really missed this,” Nicole admitted. “I missed traveling. Exploring.” She laughed. “Climbing weird things.”

“I’m really happy we’re on this adventure together, Haught. One last time, just you and me.”

Nicole clapped her shoulder, before making to stand up. “Me, too, you sap. Now come on, let’s keep going. There’s more adventure waiting for us.”

They were using their own ropes to descend. No need for Dolls and his fancy Black Badge stuff. They had their own, years old system in place already, thank you. Years of practice, and years of memories.

There was history in the ropes. Grapple lines were for lazy government agents.

-

The layout of these new caverns was a spiral. Even ground all the way at the bottom, where the beaten path from the top ended. If they were more leisurely people, they might’ve taken the walk. Unfortunately, time was against them. Bounty hunters and Bobo Del Reys and all that.

Landing on the bottom, small glances of light pouring in, there was a scanner. Dolls’s multiple flashlights revealed a door, disguised rather obviously as a rock.

“Gibsons only,” Dolls theorized. “Has to be.”

“That’d be my bet,” Waverly agreed.

“No shit, dude,” Wynonna also agreed, a little less kindly.

Waverly did not let Wynonna touch the device wedged into the wall, not until she thoroughly inspected it for herself. Despite her older sister’s incessant whining. Didn’t get much in before Wynonna impatiently shoved her hand against the thing.

“Cover your eyes,” she told the rest of the team. “Gibsons only, losers!”

The machine pricked her finger, before denying her access.

“Maybe it thinks _you’re_ the loser,” Nicole shot back. Wynonna was not amused. She shoved her other hand and a new finger into the scanning machine. Same thing. Access denied

“Well, shit,” Wynonna sighed. “Doc, I hope you brought the big guns, we’re breaking the door dow—”

It opened.

Not for her, but for Waverly.

For once, it was something Waverly didn’t have an answer for.

“Drink less?” she guessed, and with it Wynonna frowned. “I think you’re warping your blood with all that—”

“I’m gonna drink four times as hard now.” Wynonna motioned everyone along. “Let’s just go.”

Small problem.

After Waverly entered, closer and ahead of everyone else, the door shut and locked all over again. The entire team standing outside like a bunch of dusty moon rocks.

In the dumb silence that followed, a cell phone rang. Nicole answered the call labeled with her spouse’s name.

“So um,” said spouse questioned, “what now?”

Not a bad question.

“Can you get out?” Nicole asked. “What do you see in there?”

“Well, the second the door closed, a bunch of torches lit up. I think I’m supposed to go down the hall. There are more of the angel wing markings. But it doesn’t look like there’s a way to get the door opened.”

Nicole looked to Dolls for help, then Wynonna.

“Tell her to keep going and see what’s inside.”

It wasn’t Dolls who said it, it was Wynonna.

“What if there’s danger inside?” Nicole asked.

“It was made for the Gibsons, wasn’t it? Mama wanted us to see it. Maybe she’ll find the key out of there. Not like there’s much else we can do, Haught.”

“Wynonna, she’s not even armed—”

“No,” the cell phone caller said from over the line, “no, she’s right. I’ll keep going. There’s got to be something in here. I’ll keep you guys updated.”

Nicole was not happy about that answer. Waverly knew she wouldn’t be, so she hung up first.

On the other side of the door, Waverly faced the faceless face staring back at her. She took a breath, and then took one of the torches from the wall. “Here we go. Let’s see what this is about, Mama.”

-

This was absolutely killing her. But they needed to see what was inside to keep going. It’s what Michelle wanted them to do. 

Still, a part of her regretted sending her sister in so easily. 

Nicole and Jeremy giggling over some cell phone game. Dolls running his annoying mouth nonstop to the other guy running his mouth nonstop, with a southern flare to it.

They were all just chilling in front of this locked door, like nothing terrible could be happening behind it. Like everything was good in the world and they weren’t totally shut out from her sister right now.

It all stopped when she loudly groaned in protest. Right away, Nicole promised her Waverly was fine. Her cell phone still worked, after all. Still, didn’t really help. Sometimes she wished she could be as calm as Nicole when things went wrong, rather than instantly ready to tear everything apart. She supposed this is what made them the perfect pair, back in the day.

“Waverly will be fine,” Dolls assured, like he had any say in the matter. 

“Fine, huh?” Wynonna started, and with it Nicole decided to go back to her phone. “Just fine. Just dandy. Just super, alone in some weird moon cave!”

Dolls was not amused. He looked at her, silently. Frowning, when something lit up inside of her.

“Fine, like your weird relationship with that Eliza chick!”

Aggressive frowning now.

“Who even is she? What’d you do together, huh? Come on, Mister Military, there’s something there. It’s more obvious than ketchup on a white shirt.”

“She was my old partner at Black Badge. Before I was assigned Holliday and tasked with capturing Bobo Del Rey.”

“ _Volunteered_ to look for Bobo Del Rey,” Doc corrected. “He _volunteered_ to become my watchful eyes for my community service and his personal vendetta.”

“Vendetta against what?” Wynonna asked.

She saw Nicole look up, right at Dolls. Jeremy smiling about something. Dolls fiddling with those stupid gloves of his. Nicole motioned him along. _Tell the story._ Wynonna was not patient, as Dolls removed the gloves. His left hand shined back at her.

“I have a new arm, Chetri has tech in his brain to combat severe brain and memory trauma, and Haught has the spinal and lung implants.”

His vendetta—everyone’s, really—was against debt. Bills. Paying for things they needed to live lives unburdened. 

Dolls slipped the gloves back on. “I’m trying to buy my freedom by turning in Bobo Del Rey. The payoff from that will let me move on. Quit Black Badge. Do whatever I want.”

Now, freedom was something Wynonna understood. She joked, “This team is a real cybernetic circus, I hope you all know that. So it was all of you, then, in whatever accident happened?”

Dolls looked to Nicole. She motioned him to tell the whole story.

-

From the age of twenty-six to the age of twenty-seven, the year his son Ward was born, Edwin Earp was the Earp “heir”. The newest member who would drive galactic law enforcement absolutely crazy. Another Earp and whatever crew he was going to form, running amok throughout the galaxies.

But, for one year and one year only. Law enforcement didn’t know what the hell to do with themselves. 

So they focused their attention on the next best thing.

The Earps were often compared to devils. Violent gunslingers with violent crews. Always ready to shoot. Wyatt II was a nice man, but he shot down plenty in his time. The Gibsons were different. It was just as Michelle wrote. A smile and a wave. A pleasant conversation. Lifting wallets without their victims even realizing it. Using their words, and using their brains. 

This trial was more of a walking museum. The further Waverly explored, the more she learned about the Gibson family. Secrets she never would have guessed in a million years.

Jessie Gibson was the unlucky Gibson who reigned during the run of Edwin’s career. After Edwin was taken by the sea, the law apparently became bored. Began chasing after Jessie, and her sister, Layla. They were the most known Gibsons in history, making louder heists than their predecessors out of necessity. No room to be nice. No room to be an angel—this was their survival.

“Gibsons work in pairs. Except for Mama, because Gus didn’t want to.”

Waverly nodded to herself. Michelle’s partner was not Gus. It was an Earp. First time for everything. And now, two Gibson sisters were operating once again. Only this time, they were Earps. Explains why the trial wouldn’t let Wynonna in. 

But what about her? Why did it let Waverly in? Those scanners were specifically to keep Earps out. That’s what all this was about—keeping Earps out of Gibson business.

“Just had to do the deed with an Earp, right Mama?”

More stone carvings and their plaques were saying more of the same things. Jessie and Layla’s careers, spent together. Traveling together, all their life, as sisters. 

If only.

This was the difference between the Gibsons and the Earps, Waverly was piecing together. The Gibsons were careful. Organized. Knew what it was they were working for. Knew their history; where they’d come from, in the same humble roots as poor farmer Wyatt Earp II. Earps were more concerned with money and when they could get it the fastest. No humility. No purpose. Just money. The only Earp not obsessed with the family vault had the most successful career, as short-lived as it was.

Waverly wondered what Wynonna’s reasons for this treasure even were. Why the sudden interest? Why the sudden rush? There was something she wasn’t telling her. But, then again, there was plenty Waverly wasn’t telling _her_.

She found herself at the final statue. Her jaw found itself on the ground. Jessie and Layla, depicted here, with guns pointed to one another. Killing each other for what they’d earned. Killing each other, because one thought they deserved it more than the other. They lost their purpose.

By God, would this happen to Waverly and Wynonna?

No, they were different. (But isn’t that what everyone says?)

The only thing next to look at was the exit. Another fake rock wall that slid out. Only this one had carvings on it. Waverly took a picture on her phone, just to be safe, before actually investigating it.

A detailed drawing of a planet. Somewhere with a heavy forest, tall, tall trees for miles and miles. Coordinates on the top. Hold on, she’d read about this place . . . those coordinates were on—

Waverly rushed out the door and found herself back at the beginning, where she left her team. Rushing through the exit before it had the chance to open fully, ignoring her team’s concerned _Are you okay?_ and delivered the news:

“The planet Wonder, in galaxy thirty-five! Western region! We need to go west! On the islands!”

-

Space. 

Galaxy 77. 

2:04 a.m., Valor Standard Time.

Standard night noises. Quiet hum of the ship’s rear engines. Tired croaking of the hull. Quiet breathing. 

The occasional, annoyed, frustrated sigh.

“You’re thinking very loud and it’s keeping me up,” Nicole finally said. Next to her, Waverly jumped in surprise. 

Without a breath, Waverly turned completely around, faced Nicole, and blurted, “I’m not an Earp.”

Nicole’s eyebrows shot up.

“Well, I—wait—I think—Okay. So. Think about it. The door didn’t open for Wynonna. But it opened up for me. It denied her, but it didn’t deny me. What if Ward hated me for a reason? What if Ward hated me, because I’m not his? I’m not an Earp—I’m a full Gibson?”

Nicole didn’t say a word. Expression didn’t change, either. Waverly almost poked her to see if she was still alive.

“Am I crazy?”

“What? Of course you’re not crazy. That’s just—Quite the theory.”

Waverly flopped on her back.

“What’re you going to do about it? Are we—”

“Just see how the next trial goes, I guess,” Waverly sighed. “There’s probably going to be another scanner, and it’ll probably do the same thing. That is, after I open one of these windows and scream at the stars.”

Nicole moved to lay on her side, framing Waverly’s body. “Wow, and I thought you were a ball of stress before.”

“I’m not stressed.”

“Overwhelmed.”

“No.”

“Sure. So the sneezing story isn’t fake, then? You’ve been sleeping just fine since this all started?”

Waverly had no real answer or fight for that. Just a silent, “Damn it. I didn’t want you to worry.”

Nicole settled in closer, wrapping her in the strongest hold she could manage. “Just remember to breathe, alright? Please, don’t lie to me. Stress is a killer, you know.”

“I mean, there’s other ways to relieve stress.”

Nicole looked up. “What, like meditation?”

“Other ways.”

“Like . . . boxing?”

Waverly eyed her. “Other ways!”

“Oh! Like sex! Yeah, I can do that.”

Nicole unwrapped herself from Waverly and flipped her over in a blink. Waverly staring at her now.

“I can really do that.”

-

Wynonna had been doing this planet hopping thing a long time, and yet, her body could never really get a hold on all the different time zones. In Purgatory it was probably still seven in the evening the previous day. On Valor time, somewhere early in the morning. Sometimes getting sleep on these trips was impossible. Or it was the chest pains bothering the hell out of her, one of the two.

Made it even weirder to see Dolls using the VR set and practicing his shooting, right now. She expected someone as bland and boring as him to be on a strict schedule. Whatever. She’d grab one of Waverly’s terrible snacks and harass him, then. Harass him from the terribly uncomfortable—

There was a couch in the corner of the cabin. That asshole did have a couch on this ship!

Forget TV. This was going to be the best entertainment Wynonna had in months—

She fell right through the fake couch and nearly busted her ass open.

“A hologram couch!”

-

Nicole laughed, from where she hovered over Waverly, right in the middle of kissing her.

“What?” Waverly asked. “What’s going on?”

Nicole replied with one of the most pleasant smiles Waverly ever saw. “I just—I love you.” Repeating it as she kissed all over the side of Waverly’s face.

Now Waverly was the one laughing. “Easy there, stud.”

That smile was the most beautiful thing Waverly had ever seen. Nothing else in the universe she would see could compare.

Nicole finally, after all this time of struggling, felt like herself again. She was happy. She was free from her own disabilities. Free from her own pain. She was Nicole again.

How stupidly terrible she was, for ignoring Nicole in favor of a stupid treasure. 

“Hey,” Waverly said, and Nicole stopped right away. Close enough for Waverly to place her hands on the sides of her face. “I love you. I love you so much.”

There was no delay, no hesitation, as Nicole happily returned, “I love you too. So much.”

-

Wynonna was supposed to be the one laughing, not stupid Dolls and his stupid stolen VR set.

“You should’ve seen that coming,” he said.

“And you should’ve seen your face coming.”

Dolls laughed again, annoyingly so. “Do you need help?”

“All the help in the galaxies. But at least I’m not training at like, what, four in the morning?”

“Two. And all this travel messes up my internal clock. Every planet is on a different time.”

The woman on the ground with ruined vegan chip crumbs all over her told Dolls to loosen up. “Relax!” she said, uncaring as she grabbed one of the chips and ate it.

“I can relax later. For now I need to be alert. I have a lot riding on this.”

Crunching of chips. Then, “We all do, buddy.” Suddenly, she began to grin. “I think you’re just trying to forget about Eliza. You’re a classic overthinker, aren’t you?”

He hesitated just enough to prove her right.

Wynonna protected her stolen goods, leaving the rest of the mess for someone else (probably the person she stole it from) to deal with later. “I can’t really blame her for dumping you, though. You’re pretty wound up.”

“Thanks.”

“But,” she added, making for her room, ready to keep Doc up all night with her snacking, “you are quite the looker. I’ll give you that.”

He watched her walk down the hall, making a mess with more crumbs as she went. Watched her mumble something about how upset Waverly will be, laughing as she said it.

He looked down at the mess she left behind, victim to a payback prank. How much she didn’t care. All these things she said, so honestly, so freely. Not a care in the world. 

He smiled. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Polished and allowed into the wild by Mr. @dorianmcgrath, who really truly sucks at Borderlands. Poor dude
> 
> Well, folks, we are officially halfway through this fun little number. I did have some concerns about future chapters, but while I was outlining chapter eight they sort of resolved themselves. Just redid my Super Maximum Efficient writing schedule too, so, smooth sailing from here. 
> 
> Next time, we follow the team as they explore the planet Wonder. Parkour and obnoxious competition ensue. 
> 
> *shoots y’all with a bazooka filled with Love*


	8. Together, As One

Coastline West, Wonder.

Galaxy 35.

1:11 p.m., Wonder Western Standard Time.

She was freer than the water itself. Her footprints washed over in the sand, disappearing forever until the next explorer would walk over them. Disappearing, unable to keep up with her as she laughed and ran. As she explored, the way she always dreamed.

Waverly Earp had never been to a beach before.

The docks on the planet X-214 were her closest bet. But she didn’t take the chance to sneak away. To explore, the way she always desired to, deep in her very soul, her very _genes._

It was all fun with Nicole, splashing in the water, before their business here interrupted. Nicole left with Dolls to go get a boat for the job. Doc stole Jeremy and slipped away to a restaurant on the pier for a drink. Wynonna promised to stay with Waverly. She wasn’t leaving. She was going to be here, for this moment. This moment, the reason she wanted her sister to do this in the first place.

At that research, all that reading on what the world and the other worlds out there were like. Waverly Earp deserved more than texts and pictures. More than the purgatory that was, Purgatory. 

Wynonna, sitting in the sand as some song on Waverly’s phone reminded her, _Here we go Kentucky, you’re leaving me again._

Never again. Not until she was _forced_ to.

Never again would she miss something like this, something as big as her little sister experiencing what the universe had to offer. The laughter as waves crashed on her feet. As she wiggled her toes in the sand. Her excited, _I found another one!_ as she pulled a seashell from the sand. There was a whole collection where Wynonna sat now, where Waverly kept running back and forth, adding more and more to her growing army.

It was a long moment before Waverly finally took a moment to sit down. The explorer in her not quite done yet, her eyes looking all around in pure disbelief she was actually _here._

“Having fun?” Wynonna asked. Smiling proudly at the look on her sister’s face. Handing her water over as well, because the last thing they needed was someone passing out mid beach day.

It was a few moments before Waverly answered. Rehydrating. Looking around. Stopping to think, the way she always seemed to. “I had my doubts. I thought going on a treasure hunting journey would be—I don’t know. Strange? Fictional? Too good to be true? And then another part of me keeps thinking this is all a dream; that I’ll wake up in the morning, back in my old life. Another day at the school. Another day with the bills. Another day watching Nicole’s implants fail. Another day without—”

She looked at Wynonna. She didn’t have to say anything else.

Wynonna took a breath. “I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be here, annoying you until the day I’m dead. I’m here for all the adventures, Waverly.”

It all felt like a cruel lie. In truth, it was. She wasn’t going to be here for all the adventures. Until the day she died, yes, but who knew how long that would be for. Wynonna was greedy; she wanted to see _everything_ her sister was going to do in her life.

She remembered a line from the song playing earlier. _Feeling pretty lucky you’re keeping me around._ This was a huge privilege, getting to travel with her. All by itself, it was a miracle; a blessing.

Telling Waverly about this curse was going to _suck._

She pulled her beloved sister close, holding her as they stared at the sea. For a perfect few moments, the world had no troubles. _They_ had no troubles. No curse. No Bobo Del Rey. No bounty hunters. No debts.

No secrets.

“What would happen if we were to, say, plunge Haught’s rusty old dumpster of a ship into the ocean? These boat rentals suck. I might just steal this one, too.”

It was absolutely Wynonna’s natural instinct to change the subject. Avoid the subject completely. Throw away the subject and pretend it never existed.

Waverly didn’t leave her hold. “Good thing Dolls is resourceful,” she laughed. “I think you nearly gave Nicole a heart attack last time.”

Wynonna kicked sand at Waverly.

Waverly kicked some back.

The two stopped. Looked at one another. Two siblings, on a beach. Sand everywhere.

Waverly got up and started running. Wynonna chased.

“Come on! Let your big sister show you what the beach is all about!”

“You’re gonna put sand down my pants!”

“No I’m not!” Wynonna lied, stifling laughter. “Promise!”

-

The island they sought was out west. Dolls at the helm of this rather large and luxurious ship. Waverly next to him, giving him the rundown of her educated guesses on a digital map. Poor guy looked like he could barely keep up.

What a happy little nerd Waverly was.

A wonderful, lovely contrast to the hellish sounds coming from the person next to Wynonna, hunched over the side of the ship and releasing every part of his lungs into the ocean, because there was nothing left for him to barf out. 

Wynonna held his hat and patted him gently on the back. “You’re so friggin’ gross, man,” she said.

Eventually, the seasick cowboy managed to pull himself together and muster the strength to ask, “Why did I not take up the chance to teach you manners as one of our lessons?”

She patted his back, slightly harder than she did before. Almost in retaliation. “You’ll survive, Henry.”

After another several few moments, he said again, “I suppose we are together in this. Both sick. But only one of us, publicly. For everyone. No secr—”

“Don’t make me throw you overboard. Go swimming in your own puke, how’s that?”

He pulled himself together even longer, for the sake of lecturing her. Hooray for stupid, stupid mentors. “Waverly would not hold it against you.”

Wynonna made a face at that.

“No one would baby you due to your condition, either. I admire you, Wynonna, I have from day one. Do you know why?”

“Why even ask?” she spat. “You’re gonna say it anyway.”

Luckily it was too hard for him to be upset. “You have the potential to be somethin’ greater, and you fight for this, constantly. Always goin’ after the big jobs. But this? This, secret keepin’? From your little sister? Oh, no. That is not the Wynonna Earp I know.”

“Then I guess you don’t know me at all.”

“You are keepin’ yourself from your greatest potential. _You_ are the one makin’ yourself miserable, no one else. I have always wanted, for you, to be—”

“You are not a motivational speaker. Or my dad, or my mentor, or whatever this is.” Commence the angry storming off.

“Love is a two-sided curse, Wynonna!” Doc called after her. “You must not only gain the love of others, but the love of yourself.”

Late night chit chat in their shared room was becoming her biggest regret. 

She was a difficult person who did difficult things to the people she loved. How the hell was that redeemable?

She coughed.

-

In this moment, with no one shooting after them or chasing after them or handcuffing them together, Nicole believed herself to be on vacation. Whatever a vacation was meant to feel like; she’d never been on one. Something about the notion of unwinding and relaxing felt strange. Like she needed to get up right now and do everything she possibly could.

A small part of her was thankful when, mid-conversation with Jeremy, mid-suntan, her radio started playing weird music. Sounded like . . . Halloween sound effects?

She immediately turned around to find Wynonna, across the long deck, laughing. 

“This isn’t my official comeback for the couch incident,” Wynonna made clear. “That one’s still pending. It’ll be freakin’ awesome.”

Nicole laughed, now. “Good luck.”

“I can take you, any day.”

Jeremy buried himself in a book, apparently already able to guess what madness was about to ensue.

Not even two minutes later, the two were arm wrestling on a small table. Loud, obnoxious grunting sounds from Wynonna. Loud, obnoxious yelling and other attempts at distractions. It wasn’t until round four, when she knocked over a beer bottle, she managed to win.

Long argument about cheating and what defines cheating.

Short side-argument about Bon Jovi music.

Next round, Nicole splashed a drink of water on Wynonna and took the win in the same, _creative_ type of fashion. Wynonna did the same the next go, only she used beer.

“Oh come on! Why are you mad!”

Nicole stared daggers into her. “Because you used beer! I used water! That’s gross! Now it’s gonna—”

“Oh, relax, Haught!”

When Waverly arrived on the scene, she decided she was not getting involved. She’d let the chaos fester and eventually sink them into the bottom of the ocean. Just for laughs.

There was that part of her, again. This is how it used to be. This is how it was back in the day, when they were all kids. Wynonna and Nicole, best friends despite all their spats and all their obnoxious yelling.

She kept an eye on them, when they finally settled down for one final match. The two sitting on the floor as they prepared. Nicole put her arm on the table first. Then Wynonna lunged completely forward and tackled her onto the hard deck. Nicole flipped her over and put her into a headlock. Wynonna cursing and clawing for freedom. 

The two wrestled there for a good few minutes before Dolls announced they were nearing land. Waverly laughed. Were they even going to _make_ it to land?

-

It was a good hour or so of trekking the vast forest of this island, fighting lazy tree branches and getting poked by rude bushes. Struggling to follow Waverly as she chased more angel wings marks carved into tree trunks, so fast she might’ve had a scanner for the very images installed in her brain.

They stopped at a winding path. Halfway above the cliff standing in their way were handholds to climb on. A cave hollowed out in the middle of the towering rock. Dolls inspected the layout. They’d have to climb all the way around just to reach those handholds, and climb up from there. This is exactly why he brought the grappling hooks with him.

One problem. Nowhere to shoot the hooks. Nowhere for them to latch on to.

Wynonna and Nicole were already starting to climb the long way up. “Stay there, you boring goody goodies,” Wynonna said, walking off. “We got this. We’ll find a way for your stupid toys.”

Nicole added in a salute of her own. Dolls impatiently crossed his arms.

Wynonna boosted up Nicole first this time. No problem. Nicole pulled her up, no problem. 

Right in front of them, to advance, they would need to jump over a short gap between the path. Easy enough. With a competitive glance, the two began a running start, before jumping and landing perfectly on the other side.

“Not bad for a rusty old cyborg,” Wynonna commented.

“Not bad for someone who sucks at climbing,” Nicole returned. “You know, if I recall, back in the day, I was the one handing the rope down to you.”

Wynonna glared at her. “Yes, and then I knocked you out of the picture and now I’m better than you.”

“You wish,” Nicole laughed.

They eyed one another again. Competitive flare dancing in their pupils. Faster, they crossed over the rest of this short platform and dropped a few feet to the next section below. More handholds in front of them, this time easier to reach, wrapping around the side of a cliff and continuing forward to the end goal.

They pushed and shoved their way to that wall.

Wynonna could not keep up with the speed Nicole was climbing. It was like they never stopped this. Like she was never held back once in her life by disability. The smile on that asshole’s face—Wynonna made a _monster._

It was an embarrassing few seconds Wynonna took to catch up to Nicole at the end. Her old friend looking so rudely smug.

Wynonna missed the hell out of that.

One more short climb up. Apparently the past Gibson who set this place up was obsessed with staying in shape. After that, high up from the forest floor, was an overturned log. They’d need to jump at the end to make it across the latest gap. Nicole went first. Landed just fine. Wynonna went second. Landed with trouble. Terrifying, instant doom, log-snapping-halfway-through-what-kind-of-luck, _trouble._

Nicole lunged halfway over the edge of the rock and grabbed Wynonna by the arms. Swiftly pulling her up and over the edge, where the two collapsed and cursed their way through small heart attacks.

“Holy titty-fucking—Christ on a—fuck!”

“Yeah,” Nicole panted, “what she said. God, if you’re out there—”

“You’re a dick!”

“What she said.”

Then there was the moment, post-terror, when the realization they’d survived something crazy and stupid hit. Then the laughter ensued and, for a moment, they thought themselves invincible.

“Good thing you found Abigail Bailey, huh?” Nicole laughed, harder. “Wow, that was terrifying. When you die, it’s going to be because we were both drunk, not because we were doing this.”

Wynonna hoped they were all going to be blackout drunk when this curse overtook her. “I am pretty smart, huh? Bringing in some hacker. Criminals are always the answer, my friend.”

Nicole shook her head, amused. “I see. Hey, I just want to say—”

“You would’ve done the same for me, Haught. I know you would.” Wynonna stood. “Don’t be a sap about it.”

“Just let me say—”

“Sap! On this mountain! In front of the treasure!”

“I just want to tell you—”

“No feelings on my mountain, Haught!”

“—that you suck!”

Wynonna frowned. “I’ll push you off this mountain.”

-

More skips, more jumps, thankfully no more near-death experiences (for today), and they found themselves at their goal, a direct climb up to the cave. Somehow still had the energy for competition. The energy to brag and taunt and laugh, as they went up to their final goal.

Wynonna was actually pretty close to beating Nicole Haught at climbing, probably for the first time in their lives. Until her fun little sickness decided to play, and she found herself coughing. Nicole had to pull her up and save her, again. Kind of embarrassing, now.

“We can call that a tie,” Nicole offered. “Next time, try not to get any of the rock dust in your mouth, alright?”

Yeah, sure. That’s what was going on. “I’ll eat all the rock dust I want.”

Dolls was going to be upset; there really was nowhere for a grappling hook to latch on to. The best they could do was tie a good ol’ fashioned rope around one of the boulders sitting in the cave and have everyone climb up that way. Dolls and Doc first, Doc mumbling something about how he almost lost his hat. Then Jeremy and Waverly. With some effort the whole team was finally here, ready to go. Or rather, sit here while the scanner only let one of them in.

This time, Wynonna stepped in front of Waverly when the door opened. Didn’t even try to use the scanner, herself. Stepped through the door.

Door didn’t close. She looked back at the team.

“Maybe you’re not worthy?” Jeremy asked, and she glared at him.

“Malfunction?” Dolls’s suggestion was a little nicer. Not worthy—

“ ‘The greatest strength is not the strength in one’s self, but the strength to rely on others’.”

Wynonna glared at her sister next. “Not the time for poetry, Waverly.”

Waverly pointed at the saying, carved into stone at the top of the door. Happy to make Wynonna look like an impatient fool, just this once.

“There’s a theme,” Waverly theorized. “Each test has a theme. The last one only allowed one Gibson in, because there was only one Gibson left, in the end.”

Still didn’t explain why it denied Wynonna last time, if Wynonna scanned herself first. Problems to deal with later.

“Whatever happened with this Gibson,” Waverly continued, “they ended with a crew; they learned to _accept_ a new crew.”

Wynonna moved along. “Let’s see what today’s history lesson is about.”

It began with a grand waterfall. Pouring in from an opening elsewhere, streams of water weaving its way over every crevice it could flow into. Both Dolls and Nicole and their military brains scanned over the place before letting anyone advance. More cliffs, more places to climb on. Handholds on walls. Places grapple lines would and wouldn’t work. Levers, releasing blocked off walkways.

The theme _was_ teamwork, then.

They started down the path carved from the front entrance. Hugging the cave walls, as shown by the daylight that poured in. Enough water to be a new beach staring at them from the darkness below. At the end of the path, jumping over a short gap to a thicker walkway for the lot of them. Here, the trials truly began.

Right away, a climbing challenge. Wynonna boosted Nicole up, who threw down a rope ladder waiting at the top. For the time being, she left it hanging down after they left. Simple first task: done.

Next task: required five separate people’s participation. Five pressure plates would release a platform strung up above, and allow them to continue along this set pass. Wynonna made Waverly stay on the one already near them. No weird climbing required. Jeremy stayed with her.

Below, near the water, was a small piece of rock. Pressure plate waiting. Dolls used his grapple line to get down. There was actually a ring hanging above for such a thing. Whereas, across from him, Nicole went the old-fashioned way and climbed to her objective, at the top of a large rock above. Wynonna, directly below from her. Doc, hopping across some broken gaps to his goal. Pretending he wasn’t afraid of heights, just for a moment. Hard to see how shallow the water below was. 

The second the last person stood on their chosen plate, the platform lowered as expected. Doc hopped back to the main pass. Waverly and Jeremy advanced. Nicole climbed back down. Dolls grappled his way back up.

Wynonna’s handholds broke and left her stranded.

Nicole, her long time childhood friend, laughed. That’s what best friends were for.

Even Dolls laughed, as he made his way down with an extra grapple to help her.

“I have a thing about being stuck in places, you asshole,” Wynonna defended, though Dolls kept laughing. Wasn’t bothered by Nicole’s giggling; she would’ve laughed the same. Basically, screw Dolls.

Positioning the line for her, Dolls shot the tool. Meeting her at the top a moment later. She shoved his fancy technology back at him. She didn’t need it.

“I’m afraid of being in the woods,” he offered, and with it maybe she _might_ have felt a little better about herself. “Not necessarily getting lost in them. Just _being_ in them.”

Then he walked away, their bonding moment over as fast as it began.

“What a dumb thing to be afraid of,” she mumbled.

She made sure to shove Nicole the next time they stopped. Ended up getting snapped at by Waverly for bickering. Huge statue carved into the wall next to them. Depicting some woman, staring in the background of someone who looked like Josiah Earp. Other people around them, laughing and drinking.

“Why does that guy look an awful lot like—”

“Sparrow is a false name!” Waverly yelled over her question. Reading some handy little plaque description in this never ending museum of Gibson. Where was the damn treasure, already?

For Waverly, everything was falling into place. This Gibson’s name was April. No sister mentioned. Eventually, a little later in her career, she changed her name and joined Josiah Earp’s crew. The slander notated in that journal was a Gibson trying to make an Earp look bad. But why? Why join an Earp at all? Obviously it was to sabotage him. But for what? His money? Because she wanted the Earp family vault? Why turn everyone against him when she could’ve simply gone in, lifted this information, and left?

Best to press onward.

-

Another challenge next. A word carved in giant letters on a giant stone, “TOGETHER”. A group of levers, all a certain distance apart. Once again, five total. Must’ve been the amount of people in Sparrow’s crew, Waverly guessed. 

Waverly and Jeremy took the easy part again. Doc a similar pattern as last time, hopping a short gap and landing easy on his feet, the way he always seemed to. Nicole eagerly took the climbing one again. Dolls and Wynonna followed one another to two levers that were relatively close. Dolls jumped below once again. 

There was a count to three over the team’s individual communication devices, before they all pulled the levers. Boulders blocking the path were pushed away, allowing them to advance. Everyone made to regroup at the new path.

Dolls was stuck.

This time, Wynonna laughed. She left him to dangle for a few moments before tossing down the grappling hook she’d taken off of him before he jumped down. Make him think twice before walking so close to a criminal.

“Consider our debt, settled,” she said.

“Sure,” he scoffed. Definitely feeling cheated. Not like he was tricked or anything, left to bake in his own frustration.

“I don’t like to leave my debts open. Y’know, except for the debts I have open.” She nudged him. “Oh come on, we’re on a treasure hunt, man. Loosen up a little bit.”

Dolls was frowning, nothing else.

“Fine. Next time I’ll prank Doc and see if that does the trick.”

When she turned, he smiled. Why she was so obsessed with getting him, a stranger, to be less uptight, he’d never know. Still, it was entertaining to watch.

Almost as entertaining as watching the other Earp’s head nearly blow up the moment she discovered new information.

There was some validity to Sparrow’s slander; Josiah was nothing close to a good man.

His crewmates, who did respect him, who fought for and with him before the truth was forced into their eyes—he never cared for them. He was a damned dirty Earp. A scoundrel. A thief. Most Wanted Hall of Fame.

He stole from their pockets. Hoarded riches he made sure they never knew about. Withheld pay on jobs. Silently betraying them the more and more they came to praise him. As shown in the statues, Sparrow worked to expose his lies. An Earp; evil. An Earp; the devil.

-

The only obstacle standing in their way now was a simple bridge. Nicole gladly climbed around and pulled the lever on the other side, allowing them all to cross with no problems. Wynonna teased Doc for looking over the ledge. Doc reminded her what a she-devil she was.

Finally, the team was led to a closed-off room. Total darkness when the door behind them closed. Total shock when strung up lanterns lit the truth for them to see. They let Waverly do her thing.

Though, it was clear enough on its own.

Josiah led his crew, through hazards they would regret living through for the rest of their lives, to an empty vault he claimed, finally, after all these years of searching, was the Earp family vault. Sparrow was the first to ignite the flames, because Sparrow was the first to find the Earp vault.

A Gibson found the Earp vault.

A Gibson found the Earp vault, and absorbed it into the Gibson fortune.

“Everything we’re looking for is in one place,” Waverly mumbled.

Sparrow didn’t do it for the sake of the families. Who was better, who was worse—no. She stole it, right from under Josiah’s nose, right before he could find it, because she was faster. Smarter. Had more purpose.

She turned everyone against him, forming her own, new crew from the ashes, rich beyond compare with the fortune of two families, because she had purpose.

Five years prior, Josiah Earp killed her little sister. He took her life, so she would take his. She told him this in a letter long after he was old and tired. Long after he was defeated, and doomed his son to a life of the same pursuit of riches and glory.

Waverly could barely form the words of the next location before something shot at all of them. Doc returned fire from his laser revolver. first.

They left the door open and all the puzzles solved. Of course a bounty hunter was going to follow them and chase them down. Of course they were going to enter a mysterious cave in the middle of nowhere and see what was inside. Classic movie plot!

“Of course they show up in the middle of our victory lap,” Wynonna cursed. “What friggin’ luck!”

Rushing out of the condensed cave of preserved Gibson history, Waverly made sure to hit the reset button on the exit for the next generation. Got to be considerate, and all.

The door closed automatically once everyone was out. Secrets, locked away for the next Gibson to learn.

-

The chase quickly advanced to the waters. Poor Doc was ready to roll over and die, at this point. On the water, ducking and shooting. Just like when they started. Wynonna instructed Waverly to go hide in the captain’s quarters. There was only so much two or three sessions of VR training could prepare a girl for.

Of course, Wynonna couldn’t stop her from shooting from the safety of the captain’s quarters’ windows. Made a few good shots. It was hard not to be mad.

Only difference from last time: they were fighting on an inhabited planet. With rules and police. The second shore was near them, the coward of a bounty hunter pulled back and drove off. Like nothing happened. 

The rental salesman was far from happy when they returned a boat with laser bullets burnt into the metal. The insides of a cowboy’s stomach painted across the deck. 

“Guess we should’ve gotten the crazy bounty hunter insurance, huh?” Wynonna shrugged. 

It took Doc’s large winnings from the casino and a fair chunk of Dolls’s Black Badge allowance to shut the guy up. They left for Nicole’s ship, swiftly, hoping to stay away from Wonder for a while. The longer the better, probably.

-

Space.

Galaxy 35.

7:01 p.m., Wonder Capital Standard Time.

There were two possibilities: the next Gibson trial belonged to the first in the space thieves line, or, it belonged to their mother. Waverly wasn’t sure which one made her more nervous/excited/terrified.

“I think it’s more likely to be the big one,” Waverly guessed. “It only makes sense for Sparrow to point the way; she’s the one who merged the two fortunes.”

She hoped she was wrong. It’d be nice to see what her mother left behind. What her mother _did,_ in her career, other than do something as forbidden as merging two rival families.

“I hope so,” Wynonna said. “I think we’ll start running out of places if it isn’t. I swear, if Mama was hiding the treasure right under our noses the whole time, I’m going to dig her up and scream in her dead face.”

“We’ll be fine, Wynonna. We make a really great team. We can do this.”

Ironic, seeing as the team had separated for the night. The sisters began walking down the halls of the rooms in the rear, ready to join them.

“You handled yourself pretty well out there,” Wynonna stopped to say. Waverly feared a follow-up lecture on how she didn’t listen, but there was nothing. Just the praise.

“I had a good teacher,” she said.

They stared at one another for a moment. Something was on Wynonna’s tongue, Waverly could tell. Something was on Waverly’s tongue, Wynonna could tell.

They wished each other a good night and parted.

Waverly didn’t feel the guilt of the lie until she entered the commander’s quarters, where her wife was asleep. She watched, and wondered how she could keep someone so sweet such a big secret.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read over with a fine magnifying glass by Mr. @dorianmcgrath. He absolutely obliterated our first Minecraft server in lava,,,, so he has that going for him,,,,
> 
> I know this is a little static in the plot right now, but… just trust me. ;)
> 
> More Earp sisters next chapter. In fact, like, mostly Earp sisters next chapter. Woo!
> 
> So funny story. I’m halfway through chapter 11. I think I’m going to keep going until I completely finish the story, and then focus on editing. Feeling inspired lately I guess
> 
> This has nothing to do with me trying to clear my schedule for the release of The Last of Us Part II… [sweats nervously]


	9. The Sisters Gibson

Space.

Galaxy 8.

12:12 p.m., Earth EST.

She opened the dark-tinted bottle of beer without stopping to think,  _ Is this something Nicole would dump orange juice into as a prank? _

There was fresh orange juice in the beer bottle. Wynonna cursed.

Someone else cursed too, from across the cabin. Not Waverly, lost in her VR shooting. Jeremy, lost in his video chat with his boyfriend back on Earth. Internet connection was poor. They were in the depths of space; it was a miracle the internet managed to work at all.

After watching him retry the call three times without success, she suggested he give it up and call back another time. He did not like that answer.

“Sorry you’re attached to the hip with your husband, dude,” she retaliated. He did not like that, either.

“We’re not married. Not yet. Can’t afford it.” Jeremy opened the internet settings and cursed under his breath. He’d already reset the thing twice already—why wasn’t he getting it to run?

“Invest your money in something else, then. A relationship is a relationship. All that formal wedding crap is a scheme anyway.”

“Maybe we want a wedding.”

“You’re already basically married. I assume, I mean. I don’t know your life. Screw the—”

“We shouldn’t have to skip out on the wedding! I went and served my planet. I deserve something nice with my boyfriend, too, not postponing because of stupid bills.”

“You just want a normal life.” Wynonna understood.

Jeremy nodded. “I just want a normal life.”

Wynonna got up and left. Rude at first, until Jeremy realized she was banging on his and Dolls’s door. Yelling at Dolls, inside, for streaming some video. He told her to get out. She told him to be considerate of Jeremy and “Jeremy’s dude”. Silence followed.

She returned as swiftly as she’d left. Motioned him to try it again. There was Robin’s face, without blur, staring back at him. Wynonna put a thumb up before returning to the kitchen.

“Thank you,” Jeremy said. “Sorry I got upset.”

“You’re talking to someone with a short temper, there, buddy. Don’t apologize.”

It was a nice sentiment, even as he watched Wynonna throw an orange full speed at Nicole, sitting in the pilot’s seat. And as Wynonna ran afterwards, Nicole yelling and cursing at her.

-

Unclaimed Territory, Planet M-36.

Galaxy 8.

1:44 p.m., Earth EST.

The best feature to uninhabited planets was the ability to land the ship wherever they pleased. Save for X-214, where their goal was on the water. Here, Nicole placed the team right next to the trial with the description and exact coordinates detailed in Sparrow’s section of the family puzzle.

“Thank the Lord himself there is no water,” Doc smiled, tapping his boots against strong and solid stone.

“I can still make you puke,” Wynonna offered. He shook his head, violently. “No, really, I can—” 

Both the Earp sisters stopped, at the same time. A giant carving above the door sealed off to the unworthy. An exact replica of a photo of the three Earp sisters, the one Michelle used to hang and re-hang on the fridge no matter how many times Willa tore it down.

“This is Mama’s section,” Wynonna said. She looked to Waverly.

“This is Mama’s,” she agreed.

Under the photo: “Family is the most important treasure.”

Waverly scanned herself, forgetting her experiment of having Wynonna scan first. Too excited. Too nervous. Too terrified. This was her mother’s section of the Gibson family’s galactic museum.

The scanner was worn down, as if someone was trying to both chew it off and blast it to dust with a flamethrower. The observation quickly sailed to the back of her mind. She didn’t put much thought to it. She couldn’t, right now.

The sisters advanced, hand in hand. Door closed right behind them, and right away Nicole called in on their private communication line, the team will wait patiently on the other side.  _ Take your time. _

“Three Earp sisters,” Wynonna noted, “but only two allowed inside. Is that a mistake? Count much, Mama?”

Maybe Michelle didn’t consider Willa a Gibson at all, just a pure, devilish Earp. But Waverly wasn’t about to say that out loud.

Enough light poured in through the open ceiling, walls high and unbreakable. Still, lanterns were strung along the walls in the narrow tunnel they found themselves in. The end of the hall: another statue. Michelle and Gus, pictured, learning from their predecessor about the Gibson family legacy for the first time. Picture books and everything.

More lanterns lit the way. To the right of them, another easy path. They could hear water, rushing in a violent manner. The sound was too kind; when the sisters first spotted the running stream, Wynonna considered turning them around. But, they had to press on. Waverly didn’t react; there was another “exhibit” behind them, where Wynonna hadn’t bothered to look. Aggressive, killer waters and all.

Depicted was a young Gus and a young Michelle. Arguing. Under, on a plaque, read, “The hardships of sisterhood; the sacrifice of an explorer.”

Waverly let go of her hand. 

Wynonna didn’t need her sister to explain that one; Gus didn’t want to go be a Gibson. She wanted her own life. Michelle was ready to leave Purgatory and do whatever the hell she wanted, like those before her.

Sometimes history had a funny way of repeating itself.

Waverly stared at this for much too long. It took Wynonna calling her name twice, and physically nudging her, to get her to wake up. She didn’t say anything. Didn’t really look at Wynonna, either. 

The energy changed. 

Downstream they went, Wynonna keeping her sister afloat, until they were taken to a smaller, calmer pool. Another large display waiting for them. Apparently being a stellar artist was in the Gibson blood.

Again, Waverly was silent. Distant. No longer giddy, hand in hand. 

They saw Michelle and Ward, meeting for the first time. Continuing down the hall, was Michelle and Ward, standing before three daughters. From here, closed doors. Something huge behind them, no doubt. Usually how these things went.

Wynonna didn’t let Waverly continue through whatever mind-blowing thing they were going to find. They weren’t playing the silent game, not after all this time. For once, Wynonna was going to fix something. No more rifts between her and her sister; she’d caused enough already.

When Wynonna stepped in front of the door, Waverly tilted her head, annoyed. “What?” she asked. Kind enough to oblige whatever was about to happen and stop.

“You’re mad. I can tell.” Wynonna stood her ground, crossing her arms. “We’re not doing anything until I find out why.”

“It’s not a big deal,” Waverly said. Wynonna stopped her from stepping forward.

“It seems like a big deal to me,” Wynonna insisted.

Waverly made an annoyed expression.

Wynonna stared her down. 

One stubborn Earp, two stubborn Gibsons.

The Earp won.

“Thirteen years,” Waverly said, so quiet Wynonna had to strain to hear. “You were gone for thirteen years. Back there, on the wall—I’m Gus, you’re Mama.”

“I—”

“All these years, I’ve been trying to find out why. Why, why would you leave? When Nicole came back, I almost asked her myself. Maybe she’d have the answer!” She laughed, feeling ridiculous.

“It wasn’t because of you,” Wynonna said. “Shit, leaving you was the hardest part of it all. But I had to, Waverly.”

“No you didn’t!” 

“Of course I did!” Waverly had raised her voice, but Wynonna was louder.

“Why? Huh? Because you’re an Earp, and that’s what Earps do?” Waverly wasn’t even trying to hide the way her voice cracked. “You had to leave, to be some great—”

“I had to leave because that fucking town was killing me, Waverly! The side eyes! The crazy looks! Blaming me for every tiny little bullshit thing that happened! ‘My pen’s missing, must’ve been Wynonna. Must’ve been the Earp!’ ‘I think Ward killed the wrong daughter! You’re just terrible, Wynonna!’ The fucking bullying at that school! They used to leave entrails in my locker, did you know that? Fucking  _ animal entrails,  _ Waverly, did you know that?”

Waverly had no response. Only silence. She did loosen up, as if considering. Finally, she had some information on the matter that kept her up at night.

Continuing, calmer, Wynonna added, “Damn it, baby girl, leaving you behind hurt me the most. But I had to do it. I did it wrong, I know that, but—”

“You didn’t answer your phone.”

“I didn’t know what to say. I know it was a fucked up thing to do, but—”

“I just wanted to know if you were  _ alive _ , Wynonna.”

“I was embarrassed, Waverly.”

“I wouldn’t hold that against you. I would never, ever betray you like that—”

“I know!” She exhaled. Quieter, she said, “I know. I fucked up, big time. I fucked up, and I never even said sorry. I was a coward, Waverly Earp, and I’m  _ sorry.” _

Voice cracking even worse now, “Please don’t leave me again.”

Tears fell from Wynonna’s eyes first. The truth threatened to come out with it. Lord help her, she was such a god damned coward.

“I don’t ever want to leave you ever again, Waverly,” she said, in all honesty. Then she laughed, stepping out of the way. “Okay, we can continue now.”

Waverly laughed, harder than she thought she had in her. Emotions? On a treasure hunt?

Wynonna stopped before the door again, patting her little sister’s shoulder. “After you, kid.”

“If something pops out and murders me, I’m gonna go full zombie and kill you too,” Waverly shot back.

No monsters on the inside. Not even a single pointy rock.

The curved wall before them, a whole set of new images. Coordinates, above the first carving. Another uninhabited planet. Pictured, a tiny island in a vast sea, rain falling above every inch of it. Michelle was quite the artist. 

The second, a warning of security measures in and around the family vault. Terrible creatures, none either of the sisters had ever seen in their lives, well-traveled or not. The third image, a strong indicator they need to head into the vault’s inner sanctum.

“Everything we will ever hope for will be inside, huh?” Wynonna teased her mother’s writings. “A second liver?”

“You’ll be able to buy one, at least,” Waverly played along. She took a breath. “This is it. This is the vault! Wynonna, we did it!”

Wynonna grinned, wide. “We did it, Waverly. Come on, let’s go tell the others.”

Hand in hand, they left the cave.

-

The sisters weren’t expecting their joy to die down so soon.

They certainly weren’t expecting to find their team, held at gunpoint. Bobo Del Rey standing in front of them, waiting with a patient and delighted grin.

“Did you know,” he said, grinning his stupid, wolfish grin, “delegating is often the key to a successful business?”

“Who cares,” Wynonna bit. 

“All this time I’ve been trying to get in there myself.” He continued as if never interrupted. “Your mother took extra precautions to make sure I couldn’t get in. Smart woman. That tells me the location of the vault is in there. Here I was, investing my time, trying to get into the other ones. Trying to find a way around this obstacle. All I had to do was wait for you to catch up. Isn’t life funny?

“Go to hell,” Wynonna said again, snarling with her teeth bared. A wolf like Bobo had no care for it.

“Ward was close. Oh, Ward was so close to getting here! Calling the Orbital Defense Force and the great pigs of Purgatory was the best move of my career.”

“You got Willa killed,” Waverly reminded him. He laughed. 

“One less Earp to deal with,” he shrugged. Just their dead sister, no worries. “It’s the responsibility of the previous Gibson to protect the vault’s location. You two saw it. You two have given me everything I could’ve ever asked for—my time back, the location, and the perfect person to open it.” Pointing to Waverly. Wynonna stepped in front of her. 

From across the way, Nicole threatened, “Go choke on your mohawk, asshole.”

Bobo frowned, turning to face her. “I’d rather blast your friends’ brains out and feed them to you. Becoming the law, Haught? I thought I raised you better than that.”

Before Nicole could reply how Bobo meant nothing to her, the person who meant the most to her, Waverly, found a way in the frustration to weasel in front of her sister. Away from protective grasp. 

Nicole cringed before Waverly could say it.

“I’ll go. I’ll help you get your treasure. Just leave them alone.” She shook her head, at the betrayed expression on Wynonna’s face. “I’m not sacrificing everyone for money.”

Then she looked at Nicole. 

“I’ll be okay.”

Nicole was too uneasy for words. She wanted to yell and shoot Bobo’s head clean off. Watch the laser from her gun burn that stupid white patch right off his beard. Take down all his goons the way they did in the movies. But she was stuck here, useless and hopeless, watching silently as Bobo’s goons dragged her wife away.

She felt like she was dying all over again.

For Wynonna, this was worse than any curse. 

The pair found immediate allies in each other the moment Bobo left the scene. Curses and impatient planning. Cursing form Wynonna. Cursing from Nicole. Half-baked plans from the pair. But not the others.

Jeremy was silent. Shocked. Doc and Dolls were against it. The women didn’t care—this was Waverly!

“This is a mistake,” Dolls whined. “They’ll kill us!” 

Nicole and Wynonna stormed off, not caring what he had to say. If they had to die, so be it.

Someone stepped in front of the naysayers. 

“You don’t understand. Neither of you!”

Getting yelled at by Jeremy Chetri wasn’t the  _ greatest _ feeling in the world. 

Not to mention when he stepped closer to Dolls, adding, “You left us a long time ago. You left us for glory and whatever crap it was you were looking for. I guess I shouldn’t be so hurt you don’t care about Waverly.”

Dolls was stern. As serious as ever. “I care about Waverly.”

He cared about Jeremy, too. Nicole. Rushing into a gunfight with Bobo Del Rey and his goons wasn’t exactly the smartest or safest idea. 

Jeremy stormed off without another word. He didn’t believe a breath of Dolls’s words.

He and Nicole were going to do it anyway. Dolls couldn’t stop them; their minds were made. They were going to run in at the command of a criminal like Wynonna, guns blazing after another criminal. Bobo wouldn’t hurt Waverly. Obviously, he wouldn’t. He was going to take his treasure and leave. This was a death wish.

Jeremy and Nicole were going to get themselves killed.

Dolls followed, ordering his partner to join him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So funny thing. Last chapter I neglected to mention the song used in the intro. It was [Kentucky - Hippo Campus.](https://open.spotify.com/track/3427pTE7qC2GzplghWAmD9?si=je44egFBQ1KKsSD6F1Kffg) Good friend of mine suggested it for the Earp sisters on a beach scene and I swear my head instantly exploded with ideas.
> 
> The title of this chapter is a play on the level and track from the video game Uncharted 4. I had more the track than the level in mind. [The Brothers Drake - Henry Jackman](https://open.spotify.com/track/5bkTIQsqMucAEHf29IIWje?si=ZXb668XzQFu__9wXQxX7Bw)
> 
> Chapter nine looked over by Mr. @dorianmcgrath, who gets play of the game despite the fact that he SUCKS—
> 
> This is it, folks. The end of Act II, the beginning of Act III. I have completely finished this story on my end. I thought plowing through the rest was going to take me a while. Good news is, it didn’t. It actually flowed with me quite nicely. Still making little tweaks and edits, but you can expect one chapter every Friday from here on out. Nine was going to be posted on a Friday but I’ve been hella swamped at work and tired as hell when I come home and blah blah. Thank you for your continued support, I cannot BELIEVE these comments, man. *crying noise*
> 
> ‘Til next time, space gays. Don’t eat any space junk and remember to wash ur dam hands


	10. Secrets, Devils

“Don’t be upset, Waverly.”

She didn’t move. Her eyes looking out the dirty window on a dirty man’s ship. “All these years, and you needed someone else to find the treasure for you. You  _ have _ to be an idiot.”

“Maybe I am.” He inched closer. Looking out the window with her, as if they were friends. “You’re smart. Why do you think I’m so determined?”

“I haven’t wasted time thinking about it,” she snapped back. 

“You have time now.”

She didn’t answer. Bobo was self-centered enough to tell her, anyway. 

That’s exactly what he did. “Ward Earp was the leader of our gang. Not a great one. Not a kind one. But I was making good money. He was quick to shut me out of the vault haul when he stole the location from Michelle. All he had to use were his fists. He stole Willa from your aunt and went. He wanted to show her what it was to be an Earp.”

“You killed Willa.”

“I did nothing to Willa,” he corrected, louder than the deeply upsetting soothing tone he was using. “When the authorities were closing in on him, he shot her down. His own daughter, because she was slowing him down.”

Sounded quite like a Ward Earp thing to do. 

“I’m not after it for the glory, Waverly. It isn’t going to make or break my career.”

She finally looked away from the window. “Why, then? Why waste all this time?”

“It is  _ owed _ to me, the same it is to you. Not Ward, not Willa. Not even Wynonna. You and me.”

“We’re not the same.” She tried to express as much of her disgust as possible. 

“We are of the same; kin. You are not Ward’s child, but another man. Someone Ward killed long ago.”

The scanner didn’t work on Wynonna because of the Earp blood. Waverly was right. She wasn’t an Earp.

Why was she so relieved to hear this? Why wasn’t she upset?

Everything else Bobo explained in his big villain monologue hit her too fast. 

Wanted to recruit her, so he planted a cloaked mine in Nicole’s shop to worsen their debts. 

Wynonna beat him to recruiting them and even interacting with them, because she was working with him initially and knew all his plans. When they said they didn’t want to adventure, she was prepared to fight Bobo off herself. 

She barely had time to register they were entering a planet— _ the _ planet—and the fact her team was on Bobo’s heels. 

The only thing she registered in real time was the sight of Bobo’s men shooting Nicole’s ship with an EMP blast. Watching it fall out of the air and crash into the water of the rainy island they were bound for. 

-

Unclaimed Beach, Planet E-77.

Galaxy 27.

5:07 p.m., Earth EST.

Bobo waited on the beach for the tides and his crew to pull the downed ship in. Entering when it was most convenient. Forcing Waverly to follow him inside. She wanted to close her eyes, but she couldn’t, and she cursed herself for it. Her deep need to know had her head on a swivel, trying to take in everything going on. 

It was torture.

Inside, far away from her knowledge, Dolls wedged himself out from the upside-down gunner’s turret. One handed. His left arm, a dead weight of pure metal, heavy enough to exhaust his shoulder. He guessed an EMP blast. Had to be. The other members of his old crew—

He moved faster. 

There Jeremy was in the turned-over cabin, frightened. No idea where he was. A stranger with two guns on his belt trying to calm him down. Dolls ran right past Doc and grabbed Jeremy. Calmed him. Told him to trust Doc. 

Then rushed over to the pilot’s seat, where Wynonna was frantically trying to help Nicole’s hyperactive breathing. Dolls had enough time to pretend he had a plan before he felt the ship move. Bobo, obviously. Distracted him all the way until Bobo Del Rey himself walked on board, smug. Happy, with the damage he’d done. Ordering someone to shoot Doc in the hand before the man could grasp for his gun. While Doc wasn’t paying attention, of course; otherwise Bobo’s crew would’ve lost a good dozen members at the drop of a pin. 

Across the way, entering, Waverly’s eyes were stuck on the pilot. Bobo’s eyes followed. 

One goon walked over. Wynonna tried punching him out, but he was faster. Knocked the wind right out of her, successful in dragging—literally—Nicole to Bobo’s side. Dolls stood still, feeling quite dumb.

“Incentive,” Bobo explained. 

“Take me instead, asshole!” Wynonna strained to say. He only laughed. 

“Why would Waverly favor you of all people over Nicole? A bum like you? A diseased, dying nobody, over her own wife?”

The sisters had the same expression.

“You’re dying?”

“Wife?”

Bobo’s laughter broke them from their confusion. Their betrayal. “After all this time back together? Secrets!” He looked to Wynonna. “You couldn’t buck up? Too scared?”

“I was going to . . .” Wynonna couldn’t finish her sentence. Bobo was actually right. There was no way she was ever going to grow the courage to tell Waverly she was dying. 

When it came to Waverly Earp, Wynonna was a damned coward.

“Don’t be blue,” Bobo said, and with it Wynonna’s  _ blue _ instantly raised to  _ red _ . “I’ll let you see the door of the vault before you die. Your reward, for all the time you’ve cost me.”

He bid Doc a farewell as the man bled out. Eyeing the team as he took half of their members, smiling the devil’s smile, laughing to himself.

He won.

-

Stairs were carved in soaked stone. There was a possibility this planet had never seen the sun, only rain. In the moment, it was extremely relatable and appropriate for the mood.

Bobo the storm cloud, the Earp sisters the soaked stone, the tired grass, the slouching trees. He played them. He played them, and he won everything. Put  _ that _ in the Valor smuggler’s route.

Nicole was taken somewhere else. Somewhere on Bobo’s ship. Dead already, no doubt. Waverly saw Bobo offing the both of the sisters the moment that door opened. All of his dreams, coming true. No one left to stop him.

When the vault shined its golden shine back in Waverly’s face, she barely registered it. This isn’t what she envisioned. This wasn’t what the finish line was supposed to look like. She felt stupid, comparing this to one of her books, when it was, at the end of the day, cruel, cruel reality.

“You can sink right on down to Hell,” Wynonna snarled. Bobo was too lost in euphoria to care for threats.

“I’m sure I will, when the time comes. But for now—” he grinned wide and laughed large, hard enough for his stomach to ache— “I’ll live the life I was always meant to. No Ward to get in my way. No Michelle, locking me out of what is mine.”

No one had to force Waverly to do anything. At this point, she was ready to turn back and go home. Going home alive with everyone was the treasure, here.

The last scanner of the Gibson trials pricked her finger. Waverly looked away. Wynonna, the thief, looked, enraged, as the golden door’s locks undid themselves. The angel wings logo on the front spinning fully clockwise once before stopping where it had started. Opening right. A second, silver door underneath, a symbol of a devil with horns, moving to the left. Gibsons, Earps. Enemies. Family.

She looked to her sister.

She did not look away, as they were taken somewhere else. Security to keep them in line. Somewhere Nicole wasn’t, somewhere she watched her little sister’s broken heart break even more. Something in the trees stirred, but she paid it no mind. Who cared about rain storms right now?

It was them and only them right now. Abandoned by Bobo’s men. He even let them keep Peacemaker. Humor them a chance to pretend they could make it out of here alive.

“You’re dying?” Wynonna was surprised Waverly asked at all. They finally had a nice moment—just today—and it was about to go right out the window.

Wynonna Earp ruined everything.

Wynonna Earp was another, no good Earp  _ devil. _

“I missed your wedding,” she said. Proof. Proof she was evil. “My sister and my best friend are married, and I didn’t even know about it. Did you even invite me?”

“Did I even—” Waverly immediately ripped her phone from her pocket and threw it, all the force she could manage, hard enough to bruise her sister. “Do you understand how many times I tried? Do you even know how to use one of those?”

Wynonna was silent.

“I thought you were dead! Did you know that? I thought you were dead, Wynonna!”

The water falling from Waverly’s eyes had nothing to do with the rain. Nor the ones from Wynonna’s.

“I’m sorry,” Wynonna said, a whisper.

Waverly shook her head. Disappointed by another Devil Earp.

“I wanted to do this for you!” Wynonna stepped closer, but her sister took a step backward. “I wanted to find this, for you. Clear my own debts, so no one could ever come after you. I wanted you to have the money, Waverly, so you would never struggle. So you would never, ever, once in your life go to sleep hungry. Before this curse takes me, I want—”

“I don’t care about the treasure, Wynonna!”

“It’s your freedom, Waverly.”

Wynonna was going after the treasure. They both knew it.

They stood feet apart, opposite sides of this argument. They were Jessie and Layla Gibson, repeating history.

“I love Nicole more than I love a treasure.”

“I just want you to have  _ something _ after I’m gone, Waverly.”

She didn’t care. “Family is all I want. I can’t believe, after everything, you don’t understand that. All I’ve wanted, Wynonna, is my family back together.”

“We’re together now! Let’s finish it! Come on—”

Waverly was off. Entirely different direction. Back for Bobo’s ship. Wynonna, standing alone on a beach. Mud grasping her boots. Rain trying its best to wash her evils away, but having no luck.

Unarmed but determined, Waverly made clear, “Nicole is worth more to me than all the money in the universe.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The truth... is… REVEALED!
> 
> Chapter ten caressed by Mr. @dorianmcgrath and his “gentle” touch. He “creates” palaces by “blowing everything up” with “TNT”
> 
> The next chapter is a big one for me. It was the first chapter I wrote before I formally started this story. It will be another flashback chapter, this time focusing on Nicole and Waverly and how they got together. How Nicole’s life changed when she was arrested and changed when she joined the military. Made some recent continuity tweaks, and I’m super happy with it. I hope y’all will enjoy it, too.
> 
> In the meantime, don’t lick any weird fruits, remember to pet doggies and kitties, and don’t play poker with infants. They get real fussy when they lose.


	11. For Better or Worse

MANY YEARS AGO. 

This wasn’t a criminal looking back at him. He’d spent a whole lifetime looking at criminals. None of them sat with such a shame, such a look of deep sorrow. Hands shaking in fear. 

None of them he considered a daughter. None of them had run away despite his warnings, and none of them had betrayed him so. 

None of them he cared so deeply for. 

“I’m sorry, Nedley.”

Sheriff Randy Nedley couldn’t stand to see his daughter behind that glass. Why didn’t he try harder for her?

“I was an idiot. You tried to stop me and I-I disappointed you and I—I’m _sorry,_ Nedley.”

He left without a word. He couldn’t do this. He couldn’t watch this. 

Nicole Haught was made for greater things than a prison cell. 

-

Nicole Haught was probably one of the only idiots in all of the galaxies to actually enjoy prison. There was order in her life again. Structure. No one shooting at her and trying to kill her. 

No one was chasing her. 

In prison, of all things, she felt like she could breathe again. Think for herself. Start over. Nedley used to say Wynonna was a bad influence, sucking away all her potential. A devil, just like the rest of those Earps. 

Wynonna was different, though. They were friends. They were both in a shitty situation. Both misunderstood. 

But what kind of friend leaves the other to die? She didn’t even try to help. 

An Earp in prison wouldn’t end well. 

But they were supposed to be friends. 

It kept Nicole up for many nights. 

-

Waverly expected to visit her sister in prison, one day. Never her sister’s strangely attractive, less obnoxious friend. Nicole always seemed smarter. Nicole had Nedley. Wynonna had no one. 

Yet here they were, staring at one another through thick protective glass. Nicole looked confused. Understandably. 

“Um, so how’s prison?”

Waverly had a million questions. That was definitely not one of them. She cringed so hard, Nicole laughed. 

“The food’s a little salty,” Nicole said, “but it’s fine otherwise.”

“Oh, cool. Cool.”

A criminal’s smile shouldn’t have been so warm. But then, Nicole was different from most criminals. “Wynonna’s okay. She got away.”

Waverly sighed in relief. 

“I, um, I have her phone number.”

Waverly sat up. 

Not much followed. Just an appreciative _Thank you!_ as Waverly rushed off. Regardless, the smile on Nicole’s face didn’t leave. 

-

Nicole wasn’t expecting Waverly back so soon. Or at all, for that matter. 

Wynonna didn’t answer. Just her voicemail, _Don’t fucking call me._ Waverly would try again. Nicole wasn’t really sure why Waverly came back. By the looks of it, Waverly wasn’t too sure either. 

“So um, what is it like, out there? _Up_ there?”

She came back. 

She always, always came back. The more she did, the less silence there was between them. Eventually they reached the point where they barely even mentioned Wynonna. Not like there was anything to go on, there. 

Nicole’s travels. The things she saw. The people she met. The items she stole, and how she stole them. 

Waverly’s schooling. Her knowledge of the Earps and their treasure. Her investment in the second space race of the 2040s, mankind once again competitive about the wonders and limitless reaches of space after a global climate crisis scared them into exploration, before solving itself. The early years of the boom of technology, namely from the 1980s all the way through the early 2000s. 

Nicole was known as Wynonna’s quiet sidekick. This was a pleasant change. 

-

Randy Nedley didn’t talk to his adoptive daughter for years. Not while he was tearing his hair out trying to get her an early release. 

When she walked out those gates, changed forever, he couldn’t form the words. He couldn’t get Nicole to form the words either. Not on the walk to the car. Not on the long drive home. 

In the driveway of their home, Nedley finally stepped up. Acted like the parent. 

“I’m sorry, Nicole.”

She stopped worrying her lip and quickly looked at him. She’d been waiting to hear his voice for years. 

“I should’ve been a better father.”

Something snapped in Nicole. Her shoulders dropping. Her eyes becoming watery, right on command. What Nedley said about himself _hurt_ her, no matter how he believed it. “No,” she said. “It’s not you. It was me.”

Nedley was silent. Disappointed with himself. 

“I left. You begged and _begged_ me not to go, and I left. I did this, Nedley.”

“If I had tried harder—”

“Please don’t say that. You’re not _them_. You actually give a shit.”

Nedley wasn't satisfied with that. “I left you alone in that prison.”

“You got me out. Please stop. Don’t take the blame for the stupid I’ve done.”

“I guess raising two teenage girls alone can be overwhelming, can’t it? One of them is bound to lash out.”

They both found it in them to laugh. 

Then, Nicole promised, “Never again. I swear. I’m going to do better. And I know you’ll be here to help, because you’re a good person and a good father. I’m stepping up, I _swear_ it. I’m not going to be that stupid kid anymore.”

That was the difference between Nicole and Wynonna. Nicole was willing to learn, to grow, to change. Wynonna would always be the same stubborn kid. 

“You were always a good kid, Nicole. Lost, but good.”

Nicole smiled. “I feel a lot less lost now. I can think and breathe again.”

“Good.” He looked at her, smiling now. “Are you ready to go home?”

She nodded. “I’m ready.”

Next to Chrissy, who was still finishing up homecoming decorations for Nicole, was Waverly. It was important Nedley brought her over for today. Nicole needed someone, not just him. Someone who really _got_ her. 

-

One of Nicole’s growing fears: things would be weird with Waverly now that she was free. They hadn’t really talked in person. Just the glass. 

She was incredibly wrong. 

The night she came home was a long one, filled with old movies, old music, and talking. Talking about everything. Talking about nothing. Talking, about _anything._ They just wanted to talk. 

Waverly brought her over to the McCready ranch every Saturday night for their movie night. Gus usually went to bed early. Curtis sometimes hung around, held conversation. He liked her. He liked her a lot.

Down the line, he got her a job at a mechanic shop he co-owned. Nicole knew just enough about ships from botched getaways to keep her on her feet. Curtis’s business partner taught her everything else. She was a fast learner. Surpassed him, eventually. 

Nine to five job in the week. Listening to more and more of the music Waverly talked about. Watching more and more of the old shows Waverly talked about. Helping out on the ranch on the weekends, as a favor to Gus and Curtis. Movie night. Lazy Sunday. 

There was structure. This was the happiest Nicole ever was. 

But something was missing. 

Purpose. The _why_ behind it all. 

“I’m not trying to be unappreciative. I just—”

“You’re ready for the next part of your life.” Nedley removed his sheriff’s hat. Sighing, looking about his office. “This was your rehab stage, Nicole, I don’t blame you. You’re ready to start your life now. What do you want to do?”

She sighed, “I have no idea.”

“Take a week off work and take a step back. Figure out what it is you want, kid.”

“I’m supposed to plan my life in a week?”

“No. But you can draw up some ideas. Now if you excuse me, Lonnie ran his car into a ditch. Again.”

-

Nicole’s waiver for the Orbital Defense Force was accepted. 

She was going to join the military. She was going to protect, for once, not do damage. 

She spent so long preparing herself. Getting into shape. Using ranch work as exercise. 

Waverly watched her progress. She watched Nicole grow, into her own person. 

She was going to miss Nicole like hell. 

Another person she loved, leaving. At least she still had a crummy boyfriend she wanted to strangle half the time, right? 

-

“So it’s not a prank, then? You’re actually joining the Orbital Defense Forces? Teen Nicole will _not_ like this.”

“Teen Nicole so rarely got what she wanted. Good thing—she was a little shit.”

“I thought she was sweet. And she had the cutest pout when she was mad—like that!”

“Knock that off. Before I unleash the wrath of the ODF on you.”

“With that pout? I’m _so_ frightened.”

Just off the property, the man Nicole called her father was waving. Time to go. The women fell silent. Their hearts, feeling crushed.

“Please be careful up there, Nicole. You’ll be in the cold of unforgiving space. It’s like Hell but fancier.”

Nicole didn’t seem bothered. “If I got through high school, I think I’ll make it through space.”

“I’m serious! If you leave me alone down here with Chrissy Nedley I’ll never forgive you.”

“Fine. For Chrissy’s sake, I’ll be careful.”

Nicole Haught left the porch of the McCready ranch, one of the only places in the world she ever knew as home. She parted with her closest friend with nothing more than a confident smirk and a wink.

Getting into Nedley’s cruiser, she spotted Waverly. Smiling at her, from the front porch.

Possibly for the final time.

-

She stood, unhindered by mistakes past. She was focused. Eyes locked on the navigation map. Red dots, pouring in on them from all possible angles, their tiny green dot in the center looking smaller and smaller with each new foe. 

She felt everything at once. A crash, first onto her ship. Second into _her._

As a teen she would’ve predicted all of this. Government sending in nameless fodder like her, to achieve goals that, in the end, really amounted to nothing but glory. What the hell was claiming a moon going to do for them? The talk was about its resources. But that was bullshit. She knew it was bullshit and she signed up anyway. Why, she never knew. Was she the one in need of glory?

She was here under the guise of protector. Now she was the one needing protecting. How pathetic.

She saw everything, all happening way too fast for her to try and do something about it. She was too damn slow. Too slow to help. Too slow to steer them away from the giant dot hurtling towards their tiny green.

Ship turned upside-down, before snapping to the side. Jeremy Chetri, head-first into a solid metal panel yards away from where he was sitting. Xavier Dolls, screaming uncharacteristically as he watched his left arm get slashed by debris.

Nicole felt the air leave her lungs as something smashed into her chest, and again when she landed on a safety bar. _Safety._ Something, everything cracked. When she fell hand first, landing on the side panels now posing as the floor, she laughed. In realization. There _was_ a reason she signed up for this.

One last _fuck you_ to her parents.

They always railed on her for doing stupid things. How was this for stupid?

-

Aunt Gus shook her awake. Said it was important. _Downstairs, two minutes._

At first Waverly thought nothing of it. Wake up calls were the norm since she’d moved back in. Her breaking up with Champ, shortly after Nicole left, meant Curtis firing him for having a hot head. Never bring relationship drama to the workplace, and _never_ call the boss’s niece a whore. She took over his responsibilities. She figured she overslept.

In two minutes, downstairs, she found Sheriff Nedley in their kitchen, his hat off and his head bowed. Curtis’s, too. And if Curtis McCready was sad, the end of the world must’ve been upon them.

The sight woke Waverly up. Everything was piecing together. Of course Wynonna wasn’t answering her calls, she was—

“Is this about my sister?” she asked. She _had_ to ask. Relief washed over when Nedley shook his hand.

“No. The other troublemaker.”

The relief she felt killed itself and left town. Nicole. He was talking about Nicole. Nicole, who’d left for the military. Waverly must’ve looked like she was ready to pass out, because Curtis motioned her to a seat.

“Her spacecraft was surrounded. Backup got there too late. Nicole and two other men survived. She’s in surgery right now, at the Purgatory medical center.”

“She’ll be alright?” Curtis asked. Waverly couldn’t find the strength to.

“We’ll see. That’s what they told me, basically.”

“Can we see her?”

The thought of seeing Nicole’s mangled up body in a hospital bed was downright nauseating. Yet it was what Waverly craved the most right now.

“Rules say no one but family.”

Gus scoffed, loud. “We’re more her family than anything else. It’s nonsense her parents get to see her and we don’t!”

“Her parents have neglected to respond.”

Just as expected. Waverly felt her heart break. How could anyone _not_ want Nicole in their life?

“That’s just plain cruel,” Curtis said.

Nedley toyed with the brim of his hat, set between his hands. “I’ve been talking to the folks who run the place all day. The only reason they told me anything was because Nicole had me down as the one to contact, not her parents.” He added in a mumble, “Didn’t even ask me.”

“They’ll let us in, do you think?”

“It’s likely, the longer Nicole’s parents ignore their calls. They weren’t supposed to be contacted in the first place, maybe it was a mistake. But I think—”

Right on cue, his phone rang. The family before him waited and watched in suspenseful silence. Waverly found herself wanting to smash the glass of juice next to Curtis. These people didn’t know Nicole’s story. Just because they weren’t family on paper didn’t mean they weren’t family at all.

Nedley hung up the phone and made swiftly for the door, his hat flying back onto his head. “We’re approved. But we need to get there fast.”

It was a race to the car.

-

Waverly Earp, smiling at her from the porch.

-

The medical center was busy, depressingly so. Busiest place Waveely had ever seen in all of Purgatory. How many soldiers, caught in the same situation as Nicole? For what? A show of power?

The four were met with two doctors. One, an older man, the other a woman about Nicole’s age. To the surprise of no one, she was the nicer one.

The male doctor had only rules for them. No entry without passes. No visiting after dark. Don’t be too loud. Don’t get in the way of the staff. Don’t bother other patients. No funny smelling perfumes . . . All supposedly security protocols. He implied, since this case was so unique, non-family visiting, eyes would be watching them. He left without a word on Nicole’s actual health. Never saw him again.

The woman was silent and patient in letting her coworker burn himself out. The second he left she introduced herself as Doctor Shae Pressman. She’d gotten to know Nicole quite well and helped get her real family up here. She was one of the doctors monitoring Nicole’s case and gave a report on her status, all while leading them to her room. Waverly was so grateful she almost vowed to begin a worship in the woman’s honor.

The sight of Nicole wasn’t nearly as devastating as Waverly anticipated. She hadn’t collapsed to her knees and burst into tears—good sign so far.

Shae said she broke her back, her right wrist, and trauma to her chest was causing difficulty breathing. The first question asked was from Nedley. Waverly was stuck on the sight of her childhood friend, laying on a hospital bed with machinery swallowing her up.

“Will she walk again?”

Shae said time will tell. Advances in medicine would allow a normal healing span of months to shrink into weeks. By the end of the month Nicole’s back should be healed. Along the way they’d run tests. It wasn’t likely she’d breathe on her own ever again.

That’s where Waverly lost it. Curtis was there to catch her fall.

“It’ll be okay, kiddo,” he whispered. “It’s Nicole. She’s tough as hell. Before long we’ll be makin’ snow angels in winter time.”

For the first time, she did not hail Curtis’s words as truth.

-

There was a quiet buzzing in this place, far away. No, close. A recorded audience laughed, and no one else. No one but the beeping, beating as a steady lullaby.

She turned to look for it with tired eyes squinted. A figure sat next to her, facing the buzzing and recorded laughing. They were not laughing.

They were holding what Nicole was slowly piecing together was her left hand. Loosely, but strong. A silent promise. _I am here for you._

Her eyes fell closed again.

Something shifted. A whisper, “Nicole?”

-

Waverly was learning to hate sitcoms. But watching the news was way worse, so sitcoms it was. 

Last hour’s fictional problem: the guy called the girl at a seedy time. It took them an hour and presumably days in-universe to solve it. This hour’s problem was teens, angry their parents wouldn’t let them out after midnight. What a catastrophe. She sat here, next to her half-dead friend and questioned how a whole team of people could create this and send it out into the world in good faith. There were so many problems in the world than terrible communicative skills and bratty teens.

She hated them even more, knowing Nicole loved them.

Five p.m. rolled by. Nedley stopped by after his shift to relieve Waverly from hers, whether she wanted a break or not. She took a trip down to the cafeteria. Grab a quick snack, clear her mind, return to Nicole. It was the daily schedule, over these past few days.

Today brought on a new surprise: Shae Pressman was in line, in front of her. Shae was the perfect image of a doctor. Made her patients feel comfortable and cared for, got to know the families, never spoke dishonestly or in a tone other than soft and sweet. Waverly wasn’t surprised to hear she was pulling extra shifts for Nicole. Pulling extra shifts and working her ass off because, in a field mission, Nicole was the only soldier who stayed back and saved her life. Everyone else ran. She was simply repaying the favor.

“I’m really glad they let you guys up here,” she told Waverly. “I heard about Nicole’s parents. I knew they would be no-shows. No idea why they were called.”

Waverly gave a sympathetic smile. “I’ve known Nicole her whole life and I’ve never seen them in person. Not once.”

“God damn.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I’m happy you’re here. Nicole’s crazy about you. You are all she talked about.”

“We’re just friends.” Perhaps she said so a little too defensively. It made Shae laugh.

“That’s not the impression I got.”

Then the sly bastard left the cashier’s, her transaction completed, leaving Waverly with her thoughts. Smirking back at her from the door.

“Great, my life is a sitcom now.”

-

The figure was different this time. Easier to see. Responded to the fake laughter with a dry grunt. Wasn’t holding her hand, so tenderly, but she still knew they were here, for her.

She twitched her fingers and decided the emptiness was the worst possible feeling.

The world fell into focus at the speed of molasses. Next to the figure, the first thing she recognized was the fact she was _wrong._ Everything was _wrong._

Couldn’t breathe right. Felt like she was gasping for air, like she’d never get enough. If it weren’t for the mask over her face she surely would’ve suffocated by now.

Her right wrist—she remembered how it snapped. The proof was here, in the painful way she couldn’t properly move her wrapped fingers. And her toes—

She couldn’t feel her toes.

It startled her awake, to attempt and fail to sit up so quickly it made her chest ache. The figure next to her was scared with it.

“Haught?”

Nedley. They called Nedley. Something was wrong. This, she somehow only now realized, was a hospital. The annoying beeping was her own heart. That hand in hers—who’s was it? Dear God, they didn’t call her parents, did they?

“Haught, take it easy. Relax.” He pressed a call button on the table behind him. “Easy. You’re safe.”

The beeping only sped up. Her own heart, anxious. Her parents—were they here? She couldn’t find the strength in her to ask. What a terrifying attribute.

She should’ve been smarter than that. Of course they weren’t here. There was a reason she put Nedley’s name on that short list. _He_ was her father, not that asshole who constantly left without a word.

“It’s just you and me here, kid. Waverly’s in the food court. Gus and Curtis just left. No one else.”

The first thing he said. No prompt. He just knew. Immediately, the heartbeat screeching in her ears eased up.

“That’s it, kid. Take it easy.”

There was the nurse, to check the basics. She was alive, for one. Breathing. Not freaking out anymore, thankfully. She announced she was paging the doctor, and within the same minute a doctor she once saved and befriended walked through the door in a rush. Behind her, the mystery person Nicole knew in her heart was holding her hand. Had to be.

No one else was that sweet.

Waverly froze in the doorway. Nicole froze, on the bed. The doctor was talking, but she didn’t hear a word of it. She just stared, at the woman staring back at her, A look on her face telling her she’d definitely done a very, very, very stupid thing joining the ODF, because doing so caused all this and thus caused that wonderful soul to hurt and worry.

How dare she do something so cruel to someone so sweet.

-

Nicole barely had the energy to react to the news. Shae told her everything she’d told them, condensed, because she saw the exhaustion in Nicole’s eyes. Broken back, broken wrist, effed up chest. She looked neutral about it, but Waverly knew that was code. Nicole was going to bottle it all up and try to deal with it herself, as always. With the way her parents raised her, it was her natural response to everything.

Waverly would be damned if she let Nicole go through this alone.

She was at Nicole’s side every single day. Luckily it was summer, and she was between semesters. She flew through the help Curtis needed on the farm at night when she wasn’t allowed to visit, and stayed with Nicole all day. It was exhausting. But, for Nicole, worth it.

Two weeks into this new schedule, Shae pulled Waverly aside and brought her to the director’s office. If she hadn’t explained why on the way, Waverly would’ve been terrified she was being accused of something like being a spy, all the time she spent here. But no, this was an act of kindness. Shae pulled even more strings and allowed for Waverly and Nedley to get a nighttime visitor’s pass. The only people in the entire building allowed to hold these passes were families of terminally ill patients. Even then they were watched closely. Apparently Nicole left a good impression on the director, too. Also helped Waverly’s record was spotless and Nedley was the best sheriff Purgatory had ever seen.

The nights without Nicole were miserable. Full of constant worry. What if Waverly woke the next morning and learned she was dead? How could they let Nicole sit alone in her room, every single night? She wasn’t even allowed to text. No phones, at all, just the ones installed on the wall like it was the 1980s.

She was happy to learn Nicole wasn’t alone. Her two shipmates who survived, Xavier Dolls and Jeremy Chetri, were in here every single night. They got in trouble for leaving their rooms, every single night.

Dolls was a serious man. Intense. But sweet, in his own way. It was clear he cared deeply for his friend. He wished there was more he could’ve done to help her. He was the one manning the guns on the ship.

Jeremy was much more bubbly, probably more so than Waverly herself. It made her respect him more. In the crash, he hit his head. Hard. Permanent short-term memory loss. He woke up every morning unaware he ever joined the Forces, and by night re-met Dolls and Nicole, because Dolls didn’t want him to feel alone with his family gone.

One night Jeremy disappeared. Dolls said it was a massive surgery. He showed up one week later, with his ability to remember fully intact. Shortly after, Dolls disappeared, too. And re-appeared, with a silver, robotic arm to replace the one he lost.

-

Dolls was on the wall about it. Jeremy, every day, after he was caught back up, ran the pros and cons.

Implants. Fully functional, little medical risk. The price was the problem.

Jeremy restored his basic ability to remember what he ate for breakfast every morning for a whopping 200,000 Points. Roughly the same value in old American currency. _Two hundred thousand dollars._ Dolls’s arm was 175,000. Did not include physical therapy. 

Shae ran this plan past Nicole already, in private. Nedley didn’t know, Waverly didn’t know. Nicole would need tech to regulate her breathing, and extensive tech to stimulate her entire lower half so she could walk again. Plus the therapy bills to follow; the implants were nothing more than electronic prosthetics. Re-learn how to breathe and do the activities that involved breathing (spoiler: every activity that exists), and relearn how to walk on legs that hadn’t moved in several weeks. The implants alone totaled to 350,000 Points. Assuming everything went well and she _could_ work again to pay it off.

She and her friends discussed it after Waverly had fallen asleep one night. Jeremy was on board. He couldn’t live like this. In _50 First Dates_ it was a sweet and romantic gesture, but this was real life. This was breaking his parents’ hearts every morning. Never holding a real job, because every day he’d need to relearn everything and there wasn’t an employer in all the galaxies with that sort of patience. A life of constant forget is a miserable one, he decided. He would live his entire life and not recall a single detail of it. So he took the surgery.

Dolls was cautious. Plenty of people had one arm. A prosthetic wasn’t a necessity. He’d get around just fine. Then they told him he couldn’t reenlist into the military once he was healed. Even if he had the arm. This was Dolls’s life; he had been here since he was eighteen. Multiple branches of the military. Then an offer from the Black Badge Division happened upon him. The organization was shady. Binding contracts. Shady behind-the -scenes workings. But Dolls was nothing without this life. He took the offer. They told him they’d pay for a new arm; he could pay them back later. For the first time in his life, Dolls fell to the idea of dreams. 

Which left Nicole. Nicole was too proud to rely on the help of people she knew would have her back, no matter what. She wasn’t interested in wheeling down the street and being a sob story for everyone to gaze upon. She wanted to be normal; she _just_ became normal. Maybe even go into law enforcement, like Nedley. 

She just wanted to live her life.

Shae told her to think on it. Knowing already how impulsive Nicole’s decisions could be. They would wait until her spine healed up, testing her reflexes along the way, and try other treatments. There was no need to dive into such a debt so quickly.

They fell on week seven. Everything was supposed to be good and fine. She was supposed to be out of here already. Instead she was at minimal improvement, probably the peak of her healing. 

Nicole looked Shae in the eyes and told her she’d be taking the implants. Import the few experts on the tech.

-

The time between the three week all-access mark to the decisive week was, honestly, the best time of Waverly’s life. Spent in a hospital. What a life.

She missed Nicole, who’d been gone physically for one year. There were messages on encrypted servers, but Nicole only had so much time. This time of healing, in this place so dreadful, was magical. Waverly needed it.

One year, stuck in a shitty relationship with a shitty man. The loneliness she’d known so well returning, her sister still gone without a trace and apparently unable to pick up the phone. If she weren’t such an optimist, she would’ve pronounced Wynonna dead years ago. Might as well be. Didn’t even send a postcard. They were living in an interlinked digital age—shooting a message was really _that_ hard?

And, frankly, she missed Nicole’s presence.

The overconfidence that never reached Champ levels of ignorance, the jokes she was terrible at telling, that natural warmth Nicole held. Magical. She was magical! Magical, even while going through a hell Waverly personally wasn’t sure she’d handle with such grace. Surely by now she would’ve thrown something.

They talked, about everything. The way they used to. Apparently there was a lot to do and miss in a year. Waverly talked about her university. Dating Champ. Getting her own place. Dumping Champ, because he was unbearable. Leaving Champ in their old place, because they lived above Shorty’s and it wasn’t exactly a stellar living quarters. Eventually she quit the bar, because she ran into Champ every single day. Though there was some sort of satisfaction that came with working on the farm again.

Nicole shared stories of her own. Her weird drill sergeant everyone swore was a robot, because he blinked his eyes at the same intervals every single time and no one ever saw him actually eat. There was the story where she went against orders and saved doctors and their patients on the field, including Shae Pressman. Her unique ability to charm but also make her superiors sort of hate her. How she met Dolls and Jeremy. Dolls, when they got a little competitive in their squad about VR shooting scores. Jeremy, running from the squad bully. Being punched by a girl really cuts the “bully” part out of a person. 

When they couldn’t talk anymore, their attention fell on the room’s TV and its shitty sitcoms. The same shitty sitcoms Waverly hated and Nicole loved. So naturally she went on a deep dive and looked even further into older, long-running shows to keep Nicole entertained. Watching TV was pretty much all she had in this situation.

There were many shows. Many Waverly already knew and many Nicole already saw. There was one they found that Nicole particularly enjoyed from 2005, running for nine whole seasons. It was a silly comedy about paper salesmen, of all things. Nicole was _in love._ If she hadn’t liked what Waverly showed her from this era before . . .

It helped Waverly realize something: she was Pam. And, subconsciously, she knew Nicole was Jim. Thank _god_ there was no Roy here to get in between them. 

Just the metaphorical Roy. 

They were in a hospital right now. Not the time to settle romantic feelings. This wasn’t a movie. If it was, there wouldn’t be so much financial drama going on in the shadows. Just a butt load of action scenes and lame lines. 

She didn’t find out all the details about the implants until Nicole was so sure, she signed the confirmation papers.

Nedley was supportive. Offered all the help she would need. Gus was cautious about the tech itself, as was Curtis. Waverly was surprised Nicole didn’t tell her. But she also understood. This was not an easy decision. Nicole was making a choice to completely alter the way her body worked, not to mention fall into enormous debt.

The room was full when Nicole was wheeled back in. First they were doing the lung implants. After weeks of seeing one treatment after the next fail, Waverly was happy to see her chest rising and falling normally. Calmly. Slowly, not in a rushed fashion, as if she was being strangled. In the past seven weeks, this was the first real sign of Nicole getting better.

-

Waverly Earp, smiling from the front porch.

Waverly Earp, smiling down at her, as her eyes peeked open for the first time in hours.

“Hey, sleepy,” she said, her voice in a whisper, her fingers threading through Nicole’s hair. They moved a few strands, then interlocked with Nicole’s free hand. Her other hand pressed the nurse call button. “How are you feeling?”

She was too groggy to answer with words. So she flashed her best smile, the same one she’d been greeting Waverly with this entire endeavor. She lived for the one that always shined back.

Nicole noticed, only after Waverly broke eye contact with her, how different she felt. The mask from her face constantly finding itself home was gone. That awful feeling of suffocation, of never being able to catch her breath, was gone.

Nicole was breathing.

Her full house of visitors weren’t shy to celebrate. She thought it was overwhelming, the sight of so many people. But sweet. 

Joining the ODF wasn’t the big _fuck you_ to her parents. This was. Because she replaced them, with a new family.

-

It was days before the next surgery. Days of breathing exercises and nothing else. There were no problems with the implant, as they expected. It was as if Nicole was never caught in that explosion.

The legs were a trickier business. There was the initial surgery. Continuation of stretches they tried earlier on, when they thought her legs were on track to heal naturally. Days of trying to get Nicole to stand on her weakened feet. Waverly couldn’t bear the expression on Nicole’s face. Anger, frustration, with herself. Waverly knew she was capable, of course, but did she? What was going on in that head?

Nicole did the first few physical therapy sessions on her own, in private. Learning to walk again, no doubt, made her feel childish. It was a simple task most people didn’t think about. Here she was, disabled, learning the basics of human movements all over again.

During this time she was different. Mad with herself, for feeling so useless. Waverly knew. Of course Nicole wouldn’t let it show, but she _knew._ She saw it in her face when she thought Waverly wasn’t looking, and overall her interactions were different. Like she was far away. She found more shows to distract Nicole with. Jeremy dropped by to hear out Nicole’s venting. He’d gone through the same things, the same frustrations, trying to learn how to _think_ again. Waverly always left them to their privacy.

When Nicole finally got to that level of confidence and comfort, only Nedley was allowed in the room. He was the one on the papers, after all, despite the fancy night pass Waverly had. He returned with a glow about him. A proud father. Such a thing, Waverly noticed, lifted Nicole’s spirits.

Nicole was on track to go home. 

-

Waverly would be dropping by, with Curtis, to help Nicole back home. Gather her wartime effects that’d been sitting in a corner of her hospital room for all these weeks now. Untouched, by all.

Nicole needed a way to thank them, for staying by her side all this time. What a foreign feeling it was. She spent her youth pushing everyone away, because she was afraid they were like her parents. One day they’d be here, the next they’d be gone. Then she met people, her people, and she realized. 

It was a gift she would hold in gratitude for eternity.

She did the best thing she could, with the help of Shae. After thanking the woman extensively for everything she did. The doctor held her small box of personal items, and she held a pair of crutches.

Curtis and Waverly stared in awe from the waiting room, as Nicole _walked_ to them. It was the first time she saw either of them cry since they’d gotten here.

-

Waverly felt an overwhelming urge to rush over to Nicole and kiss her with all the pride in her heart.

-

The moment didn’t last. Rules said Nicole had to be wheeled out. But it was a good feeling, making her family cry happy tears. Better than sad tears.

The moment they stepped outside, waiting for Curtis to open the back door of his truck, Nicole kicked off her shoes. Ignored the funny looks.

“I want to feel the grass between my toes.”

No one could deny her that. A few weeks ago she was paralyzed!

The drive back, Nicole was calm. Her eyes stuck on the window. She’d been up there, and then locked up in a hospital, for far too long. She wanted to see her home world. She wanted to see the ground, the grass, the trees, the big, bright blue sky. The plains surrounding the lonely military facility.

She held Waverly’s hand the entire ride.

-

Clearly, it was Nicole’s plan to bunk at Nedley’s while she figured out . . . life. Where she’d been before. But Gus wasn’t having that. The Nedley house wasn’t accommodating for the disabled. Nedley was never home. Chrissy was never home. The house itself wasn’t going to be helpful to her. No, she was staying at the ranch. Nedley would just have to deal with it. Gus’s mind was made. 

For a short while, insisting on doing work rather than sitting on her ass for longer, Nicole was handling what she could at the ranch. The stronger she got, the more responsibilities she took on, all the way until the crutches were rendered useless. All the way until she secretly took on all of Waverly’s responsibilities, the closer fall rolled in. It left room for Waverly to focus on her studies.

The time Waverly and Nicole spent together went uninterrupted. In fact, they were actually spending _more_ time together, now living under the same roof. They watched more shows, more of _The Office,_ more of Waverly watching the characters Pam and Jim dance around each other and pretend there was nothing there. The more frustrated she became with them, the more frustrated she became with herself.

But there was even the tiniest, embarrassing chance of Nicole turning her down, so she didn’t say a word.

She did end up asking another question, however. Living with Gus and Curtis was growing difficult. They were great people, but Nicole and Waverly were in their twenties. They needed to get out. Be free. Dive (further) into financial ruin, the modern equivalent of learning about life. So they agreed to get an apartment house in town. Waverly returned to Shorty’s. (Shorty evicted Champ long ago.) Nicole went back to the mechanic shop. Money was good. Maybe not 350,000 Points good, but still pretty good.

Months later, the owner retired and left her in charge. She ran into Jeremy, still in town doing IT work, and hired him. Saved him from bouncing back and forth between freelance jobs. The tiny mechanic garage they knew expanded, under their watch. Not as largely as they’d hoped, but at least they had each other to complain to about it.

-

Nicole made the first move. She couldn’t stand it. Traditionally she let her partner/potential partner make the first move, but this—she couldn’t wait for this any longer.

She was Jim, looking at her Pam with puppy dog eyes every time she talked to another person with love in her eyes. Getting into a fumble in the field, she could handle. Being a cyborg complete with her own charger? Sure. Drowning in debt? Who the hell wasn’t? But not being with Waverly—that was insanity. It was eating her alive. Not just recently. Forever. Since she met Wynonna and stumbled over to the McCready ranch. Since she became her tutor in high school, five years younger and five years smarter. Since she walked into that prison to ask about her sister, and kept returning for Nicole.

Nicole always loved Waverly. She was too busy looking everywhere else to realize it.

Leaving Purgatory not once, but twice was the dumbest thing Nicole ever did. Mostly, she did it to escape her feelings. No matter what, she always ended up back here, in Purgatory, with this woman. It was the best curse to ever plague a person.

She didn’t know how to ask, so she did what any normal person would do and blurted it across her empty garage in a squeaky voice. Waverly responded with their first kiss. And then a very loud, _Yes! Of course! Let’s go right now!_

The only difference between them now was they slept together. Everything else was the same. Same level of comfort. Same friendly talk, same TV watching. Same Friday traditions ( _Whoever gets home first makes dinner!_ ). For once, Nicole felt everything in her life lining up.

She worked hard, a full year at therapy, for the biggest moment of anyone’s life. She had a fall at work and had to reset her progress. Worked doubly hard on herself. None of it compared to the difficulty of actually asking the question.

Work schedules weren’t adding up. Dinner plans getting cancelled because of so-and-so, this and that. Nicole’s second surgery and another series of treatment. Another round of the worried hand-holding, the wondering why the hell Waverly would stick around someone so weak and pathetic. Dying inside, knowing Waverly was pained to watch her go through hell all over again, and hell long after, when things just weren’t working out. When things just didn’t seem to get better. When Nicole would stay up long hours into the night, wondering why and how someone like her managed to land someone like Waverly. How an old criminal like her managed to find the nicest and most patient person in all the galaxies. How she could’ve traveled around, so far from home, and landed back here, back in the town she hated, lucky enough to find just the right person for her. 

So Nicole did what she does best: she went for the nostalgia.

The garage was empty. Waverly dropped by to pick Nicole up for the night. Friday night traditions went out for the sake of carpooling.

She sat Waverly down and did something she was told would be impossible. She lowered herself to the ground slowly, fighting whatever agony surfaced and understandably worried Waverly, and stopped with one knee bent under her. The best ring she could buy, presented to the love of her life.

Presented to her love, who bawled her eyes out for a full minute before finally answering.

“Yes! Yes, of course!”

A year ago Nicole Haught laughed, her head full of doubt. She was going to die in her own ship, doing the thing her parents always told her never to do. She made a miraculous recovery. She finally grasped the concept of family, and because of it stopped doing the same stupid things of her youth. Like getting blown up in space or blowing up other people in space.

Today she was on one knee, the woman she always loved agreeing to marry her.

-

Waverly finally, _finally_ found the one person who would never leave. Who always came back. 

Who wanted to stay. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is taken both from the thing peeps say when they get married and another level / track from Uncharted 4. [For Better or Worse - Henry Jackman](https://open.spotify.com/track/4eh4KH0cH06rgB3bXGHuWM?si=1MctdpOCSZ2bkK4TYtq4uw)
> 
> Huge thank you to @dorianmcgrath, who discovered a really BIG continuity error. Don’t even have an insult for him today. Yes, he’s a short little goblin who can’t reach the dog bowls on the fridge. Yes, he blew a dingy to shreds in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and stranded himself in the ocean like an idiot and had to swim back to shore. But I have nothin’ to make fun of him for.
> 
> Man, this chapter is the most meaningful one to me in this story. It was the first one I wrote (hence the continuity errors and a random, now deleted forgotten plotline where apparently Dolls was supposed to be dying of cancer and BBD was using experimental science to help him—). It really established this story for me and pointed me in the direction it wanted to go. Also I love writing about two women falling in love, that’s my favorite flavor—
> 
> The penultimate chapter is next, and then the epilogue. Chapter 13 is short, so next week I’ll release 12 early and 13 a few days later. Thank you for your support, it makes this little space butt smile a WHOLE LOT
> 
> ‘Til next time, adventurers. Don’t forget to treat people with respect and approach strange birds cautiously


	12. Gauntlet of the Ancestors

Unclaimed Beach, Planet E-77.

Galaxy 27.

6:33 p.m., Earth EST.

“I can’t believe what I’m lookin’ at right now.”

She was silent. 

“You were one of Bobo’s favorites.”

She tried to sit up straighter. Tried to allow more air into her lungs, but she just couldn’t.

“Now look at you. Military sell out. We told you they’d take everything from you.”

She clutched the low grade charger stuck in her chest, just barely keeping her alive. Damn thing worked about as well as her lungs.

The man in the hall scoffed. Clinging his rifle tighter. “You’re pathetic, Nicole.”

Maybe he was right. Maybe she had nothing to give to the universe, sitting here, unable to function, brought to her knees by a simple power outage. 

Maybe she wasn’t a plunderer anymore, half-drunk and drifting from planet to planet. Clouds constantly storming in her mind.

Maybe she was okay with that.

Maybe she was happy, having a stable income and a house with someone to go home to every day. Someone to call her father. Peers she didn’t have to worry about killing her for yesterday’s jewels. 

Maybe Bobo and his men were the pathetic ones, and she was a fool for ever joining them. She wanted something better. She wanted an escape. 

The memories of the past flooded her mind. 

Her something better was sitting in front of her the whole time. 

She hoped her something better was okay out there. She’d sit here a lifetime if it would keep Waverly safe.

-

She thought of Nicole; of  _ them,  _ together. Everything they’d been through. 

Waverly already prioritized the treasure over Nicole, once. Not again. 

She saw the team, halfway to Bobo’s ship. Doc applying pressure to his shot hand with his shirt. Dolls and his limp arm, trying his best to calm Jeremy down. The opposing crew, laughing at their suffering.

Gunshot. Waverly jumped. Two guys nearby were looking at something in the distance. The trees rustling. One of them shot again.

“I’m tellin’ you, I saw something out there. Some blue, yeti lookin’ fella.”

His buddy laughed. “A yeti, huh?”

Shot again.

The trees rustled more aggressively.

Something burst out from them. 

The man who laughed unholstered his own weapon, crying, “Holy shit, did you see that? Shoot, shoot!”

“I told you!”

Someone else in the camp was freaking out within the minute.  _ What the fuck are those things!  _ Various,  _ Run! _ Endless yelling and cursing. Waverly made her way down to Dolls and the rest of her team. Grabbing their confiscated weapons and a couple extras, they ran in the chaos—Dolls working overtime to keep Jeremy from freaking out the same—and tried to hide somewhere else.

One of the creatures stepped in front of them. The four stopped dead on their heels. A large, furry, blue creature. Sabre teeth bigger than the average human’s hand jutting from the jaw. Almost twice the size of Dolls alone, the tallest in the group.

The creature did not move. Doc tried reaching for his gun, but Waverly stopped him.

It eyed Waverly directly. She eyed it back. Shaky breaths, but strong where she stood.

The creature let them go, unharmed, and proceeded to maul the members of the Reapers behind them.

“Gibson blood?” Dolls asked.

Waverly didn’t really have an answer. All she did was shrug.

“Where to? Where is Wynonna?” Doc asked.

“She went into the vault,” Waverly answered with disdain. “We’re not following. We’re going on Bobo’s ship and we’re getting Nicole.”

She stopped, looking back on the team.

“Are you with me?”

Dolls stepped up first. “Always, Waverly.”

More of the blue creatures as they trekked along, and none of them even looked at the team as they ran through the trees, sometimes even through an open slaughter scene.

Waverly pieced it together by now. They were the guardians of the island. Someone unworthy entered the vault. They were cleaning up those who weren’t meant to see what was inside.

-

“You selfish assholes. Piles of gold everywhere.”

They were holograms, Wynonna knew. Fancy decoration to boast about the victories of the Earp line. The real prize was in the inner sanctum. Had to be.

Before her, entering her family vault for herself, the smile she expected to be on her face absent, was the man himself. The one who started all this thanks to the wonders of space exploration and corrupt governments.

“Wyatt Earp II.”

The portrait of the man born Connor Theodore Earp was staring back at her. He looked identical to the photos she’d seen of the actual Wyatt Earp, from back in the old west. Same haircut. Same mustache. Must’ve been a big fan or something.

“Bet you thought you were doing something good,” Wynonna cursed him. “Well, here’s your newest heir, asshole: an orphan with a dead sister and another sister who isn’t even your blood.” A violent cough ripped through her. “Oh yeah,  _ and _ I’m dying! What a legacy you left behind, you fucking idiot!”

If the piles of gold weren’t fake, she would’ve shot them all until ol’ Wyatt II’s laser gun melted them to nothing.

She proceeded out of this room and into the hall. A narrow wooden walkway surrounded by water. At the end, another portrait of the founding Earp. Everything he had stolen from the government ships who sent out resources to invest into far away land, a big smile on his face.

Next to the portrait, a final tally of his bounty upon death. Seven hundred thousand Points.

“Not bad.”

Rounding the corner, she found herself in Josiah Earp’s section. The walls painted a violent red for the cruel reign he held as heir. Stealing from his partners. Making himself bigger than everyone else to satisfy the fact he never found his father’s treasure. His portrait made him look like a thug. Probably the most truthful picture Wynonna would ever see.

His piles of gold were even higher than his father’s, taking up so much room Wynonna would’ve felt claustrophobic if it weren’t fake. She continued down another long hall, this one closed in. Pictures all down the way, each one bragging of Josiah’s victories. The people he plundered. The people he betrayed.

At the end, was a picture of an older Josiah, his hair whiter than the winter snow of Purgatory, bouncing what Wynonna assumed was his son on his lap. Edwin was smiling, so joyously. Josiah frowning, a defeated man paying for the evils he had done.

The final tally on the left was just past one million. On the right, barely one hundred thousand. The more he aged, the less he did with his name, the less the world wanted to do with him.

“Serves you right for being an asshole. Betraying the people who trusted you.”

She looked over her shoulder. No one next to her. Not the person she wanted.

“I guess we have that in common.”

Wynonna looked back. She wasn’t too far along now.

No. This was for Waverly’s benefit, whether she wanted it or not.

She continued, feeling a burning in her chest. 

There was a long and boring walk ahead. Windows peeking out some of the time. The promise of adventure through them. Locked away, behind these long, boring walls. She found herself before Edwin Earp, the one year wonder. The one Earp who had no desire for this life. The one Earp who was prepared to do something smart with his time, instead of something fictional.

There was no money in this room. Only pictures. The time he spent with his dad. The nice house he had. The nice car, the promise his future held. In his portrait, he looked so happy. A nerdy looking man complete with a bowtie and glasses.

At the end of his section, his bounty was in the millions. But he looked miserable. He would never meet his own son. He would never return home. He would never enjoy the riches he collected in his short time. He would sit in the crow’s nest he hid, and starve to death until the universe took him, too. Another failed Earp.

Wynonna’s coughing overtook her at the sight.

Next up wasn’t Ward. Next up was the Gibsons. This must’ve been Michelle’s doing. There was no way Sparrow was merging the two families together, other than the money she’d stolen, when she hated them with a burning passion. Jessie and Layla were too busy killing each other. Only made sense it was her mother. She was the one responsible for merging the two families.

“Let’s get our Gibson on, then.”

Wynonna looked over her shoulder.

Wynonna pressed on.

In the next section, she met Stephanie and Kennedy Gibson. The two sisters who operated during Wyatt II’s time. The Wyatt II equivalent to the Gibsons, essentially. Twins, who both bore a striking and slightly creepy resemblance to Waverly. Their portrait: the two of them fist bumping, rifles resting on their shoulders as something in the background exploded.

Gibsons were cooler, it was settled.

The treasures around them were cargo. Same thing as Wyatt II. Possibility they worked together in the past? It was a question for Waverly.

Who wasn’t here.

Coughing, Wynonna pressed on.

The Gibsons didn’t exactly brag about their possessions the way the Earps did. Their bounties weren’t posted, either. Their rooms were decorated instead with more pictures, more recollections of the things the two heirs did, together.

In Sparrow’s section, there were far more pictures of her and her sister, before she died. The mini-museum ended with a copy of the letter she sent Josiah Earp long after she screwed him over forever. Wynonna’s eyes fell on her portrait. No wonder the woman looked so damn satisfied with herself, smiling in front of the crew she’d stolen.

Jessie and Layla Gibson, the two who would betray one another. There were still happy photos all around. Even in the end, even with their guns pointed at one another, their section was littered with pictures of the times they shared together. The deep love siblings held between one another before greed wedged them apart.

It made Wynonna feel like  _ shit _ . She coughed, hard enough to bring her to her knees.

No. This was for the best.

She pressed on.

She pressed on, to the most important portion of this family vault.

The section where everything came together. A door opened when she entered the larger room. Connecting Wyatt II from where she exited Jessie and Layla Gibson. The Earps and the Gibsons, connecting where the room for Ward Earp and Michelle Gibson sat in a shared space. These rival families, now one. One vault, one treasure. One heir, from now on.

“I wish you were here to see this.”

She pressed onward.

The left side of the room was Ward Earp, next to the connecting entrance of Wyatt II. The right side, directly from where the previous Gibsons ended, was Michelle. In the center of the two, a giant version of a picture of Wynonna and her sisters when they were kids.

Above, carved carefully in stone, read:

_ WE ARE ONE. _

Wynonna laughed. One big, happy family.

Another silver plaque with golden writing was below the picture of her sisters. Michelle expressed this is the most important thing about everything and anything they’ll do in their lives, no matter which side they were born on.

This is the most vital function: the family name, and what each heir did with it.

Redistributing cargo. Making a reputation, only to lose it all. Revenge and justice, for those lost. Proving themselves to the previous heir. The dark side of success. Two confused and young thieves, creating something no one else ever did before.

Throwing everything away for greed.

Making something of a bad situation, for the future generations.

A life on the run; a life stuck in books.

What they did with it.

What has Wynonna done with her name?

Beat people down. Steal. 

Disappoint the few who cared about her. 

Wynonna looked to the exit. From all the way across the room, from the door to the inner sanctum. 

She messed up, and she was going to fix it.

To the side, there were two tunnels. One for the next heir. One for the current heir to enjoy the riches of those before them.

At the door of the inner sanctum, she heard whispering. The rantings of a man lost.

“It’s all bullshit. Lies! You’re a liar, Michelle!”

Wynonna didn’t speak. Just listened to Bobo finally go mad.

“How am I to apply this, if I’ve never  _ once _ had family in my life? Everyone I loved died long ago—even you weren’t willing to accept me. Not you, not that  _ wretch _ Julian!”

Wynonna threw her own family away, long ago.

She thought of that picture. Willa, alive. Waverly, so happy. They were together. They were sisters, and they were happy.

Wynonna turned around.

Before promptly stopping, a giant blue creature standing directly behind her. Staring. Waiting, as if making a decision.

She stared the same.

“What’s up, blue?” she whispered. “You a weird relative of Waverly, too?”

It stared. 

“No way. Earp. Definitely an Earp, with that fat ugly face.”

It stepped out of her way and allowed her to walk away. Whether or not it felt insulted, she didn’t take the time to consider. 

It crossed into the inner sanctum, where Bobo sat among a mountain of priceless items and cards overloaded with money, his face wet with the sweat and tears he put into finding this place. More followed. Wynonna moved for the exit faster. Wynonna needed to exit, right now.

Wynonna needed to do the right thing.

Exiting through Wyatt II’s door, she heard screaming. Begging, before threats. Before explosives. Bobo wasted the better part of his life trying to find this place. He was going to die here, if he had to.

Wynonna ran. She would not be consumed by the same greed.

An Earp was going to be an angel; for once, an Earp was going to do the right thing for a Gibson.

Her chest throbbing, her lungs screaming and burning, she ran. No amount of coughing was going to stop her. No amount of weight from the fuck ups of her past was going to slow her down.

-

Getting onto the ship was a simple act in itself. Getting to  _ stay _ in the ship . . .

The creatures got the attention of the Reapers outside. The ones holed up inside were high on fear and nothing near kind. Dolls and Doc took a majority of the work. Waverly kept one eye on Jeremy and the other on a map of the giant ship Bobo “happened upon” (stole) years ago.

“Nicole’s on the bottom floor,” Waverly concluded.

“How can you be sure?” Dolls asked, yelling over the sound of gunfire.

“Classic villain scheme! Keep the valuables-slash-blackmail locked somewhere far away! There’s a store room, too!”

“Why are we interested in a store room?”

“Charges for all the robots on this team!”

Fair point. They pressed on. Dolls didn’t need enhancements to memorize the layout of this place. Pilot’s seat on the top floor, where they entered, no doubt would be a fight getting back to. If they had bigger numbers, he would’ve stationed someone up here on defense. The ship was three floors. The second, barracks and lounging. Third, storage and prisoner hold, apparently.

Second floor wasn’t as chaotic as Dolls anticipated. There were dead bodies, all across the halls. Quiet scuffling. Not the war zone he was expecting. Did the island creatures already take care of the Reapers hiding in here?

Doc looked a little sad; he was excited to enact his community service to the fullest by taking down Bobo’s crew. Those annoying people he never came around to liking. He had the pleasure of taking down a few stragglers, but not the whole dozens he was prepared for.

The halls were crowded with the bodies. Idiots who waited for their boss to come back when really, they should’ve skipped this place the second those creatures came out of the trees. 

The team advanced easily to the third floor. Guns away. Dolls wanted to make sure no one turned a gun on Nicole. Stealth was the way, this time.

All they found was another, single dead body, laying out from a doorway. Whispering from the inside of a room. They ran faster, abandoning the stealth approach. 

Inside, was Wynonna. Helping Nicole fasten a proper charger into the port on her sternum, not the rusty old one sitting next to her now.

Wynonna took out the entire second floor of Reapers.

Wynonna came back and helped Nicole.

Nicole, slumped against the wall, barely able to support her own head, immediately looked to Waverly and asked, “You okay?”

Waverly wanted to laugh at the question. Nicole was definitely not the one meant to be asking it. “You’re alive.”

She looked to her sister, who was clearly avoiding eye contact in a shamed fashion. Waverly couldn’t believe it. A few moments ago her sister was dead set on the treasure.

“You came back,” Waverly said.

“I can be redeemable,” Wynonna replied. She passed more cables out to the other two who needed it. 

Dolls fastened Jeremy’s first, despite his confused refusals. Then he attempted to charge his own arm, but found some trouble. For some reason the damned thing wouldn’t plug. His hands were shaking, the way he worried about Jeremy.

Wynonna stepped up and plugged it in for him. Dolls just looked at her. Didn’t say anything. Not even a thank you. She was the last person he expected to help. The last person he expected to do any of this; clearing the Reapers from the way and rushing to save Nicole.

Wynonna looked back at him, before turning back to the rest of the team. “We should probably hurry it up; I don’t know how much time we have before more show up.”

From the corner of her eye, she saw Waverly, smiling at her, taking a moment out of tending to Nicole. Nicole, her wife. Nicole and Waverly were married. All that sneaking off. All the worrying. They were a couple. They were bonded for life, and Wynonna didn’t even know. 

Wynonna began to cough. Swatting away the concerns that unrightfully swarmed to her. 

She left Nicole alone in a jail cell, to serve the sentence of the life  _ she _ pulled Nicole into. How long did it take her to get back on her feet? How long did Nicole spend in that place? Getting back into the swing of a normal life—how difficult was that?

She wasn’t there to hear her sister’s pre-date jitters. There, after the first date, to ask how everything had gone. She didn’t help pick out rings. Didn’t help with the dress. The venue. Nothing.

Wasn’t there when Nicole got hurt. Wasn’t there for the therapies, wasn’t there to lend support. She was injured twice, and Wynonna missed both.

Damn it, she couldn’t breathe.

They started moving again. Nicole, back on her feet. Doc’s hand properly patched up. Dolls’s arm working, Jeremy’s memories back.

Dolls and Jeremy, Nicole’s new crew. They had a brotherhood of their own. Saw their own things. Did their own things, went through their own hardships. Wynonna almost got them all killed, in this. That EMP blast could have  _ killed _ the three of them. They just wanted to settle their debts.

Doc’s hand. All those years of advice and mentorship and she gave the man a hole in his hand. That was how she repaid him.

She coughed, stopping their flow for a second. Blowing off Waverly’s concern.  _ We have to keep moving, Wave, go. _

Everyone, stuck here in the mess she created. She should’ve stopped Bobo, long ago. She should’ve known he was going to do something to Nicole’s shop. She should’ve protected her family.

Now they were here, running for their lives. There was a shotgun in Waverly’s hand, one that was warm and being well-managed with practice. She taught her sister to be a killer. What sort of gift was that, after all these years?

“We’re almost at the top!”

“Clear these assholes out!”

“There’s still too many of them!”

She did this. She put them in danger. She was going to get them killed.

“Fall back!”

Michelle didn’t force Gus into this life. So why did Wynonna force Waverly?

Why the hell was she trying so hard to get her sister killed? Why couldn’t she do better?

Why didn’t she just pick up the damn phone?

“Wynonna? Are you okay?”

Why, time and time again, did Waverly give so much to her, when Wynonna gave so little back?

“Wynonna!”

It didn’t matter how many people Wynonna shot down. It didn’t matter how she pushed Peacemaker. Didn’t matter how hard she tried. At the end of the day, she was the worst thing for anyone around her. The worst thing, for her sister.

Wynonna Earp collapsed, coughing so hard it blurred her vision.

“Wynonna!”

They were so close to the stairs leading up and out. So close to the escape. If she hadn’t wasted time—if she hadn’t gone into the stupid vault—

“Wynonna? Wynonna? Can you hear me? Wynonna!”

A wheezing, breathless coughing erupted from deep within Wynonna’s lungs. “I—I’ve—I’ve done too much bad, Waverly.”

“What?” Waverly continued to try and get her up. “No, no, you’ll be okay. You’re going to be okay.”

“I can’t do this, Waverly.”

“No, don’t talk like that! Come on, get up!”

Coughing. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, that I wasn’t better.” She tried to look to Nicole, but couldn’t quite seem to find her through black spots. She felt someone grab her left hand. “I’m sorry I left.”

Nicole squeezed her hand. “Come on, Earp, don’t—”

“And then I—” she paused, for another fit to run its course. “I brought you here. You didn’t want to, but I did. All of you. I fucked you all over for a—a stupid treasure!”

Waverly was ready to argue. “You wanted us to live better. You wanted  _ me _ to have a better life, Wynonna.”

“I abandoned you—”

“I forgive you.”

“I ran into the vault.”

“I forgive you.”

“Your wedding—”

“Damn it, Wynonna, I don’t care! I forgive you! Come on, we can get you out of here! Just keep pushing!”

The blood erupting from her lungs said otherwise.

Nicole squeezed her hand harder. “Come on, you can do this, Earp. Just like we used to. The escape is always the best part! Come on!”

Head shaking, “I—I can’t—”

She couldn’t  _ breathe.  _

Waverly knew it, too. Wynonna could not  _ breathe.  _

“You helped me see the universe, Wynonna.” Waverly’s tears fell below. “Everything I ever dreamed of—I got to see it! The beach, Wynonna. I got to see the beach! Do you know how long I’ve been dreaming of seeing the beach? Wynonna, I could reach out and  _ touch _ the stars. You did that. I would’ve still been in Purgatory, grading papers.”

“You gave my career some purpose,” Doc finally piped up. “My  _ life  _ some purpose. Somethin’ to fight for. Someone to look after. Someone to care about. You have to get up and fight, come on now!”

Nicole squeezed her hand again. “You’re my best friend, Wynonna. You were there for me when no one else was,  _ despite _ what you might think. You got me through being a teen, and I can never thank you enough for that.”

“I would never hold anything against you, Wynonna.” Waverly’s voice was cracking harder now. “I understand why you did it. I forgive you.”

“You’re my sister, Wynonna Earp. You always have been.”

Her vision was black. Her chest burning so violently, she couldn’t feel anything else. Just the weight. She’d done way too much, and this was her punishment. This was her curse. 

This was the end. 

At least she helped, in the end. 

Breathless, Wynonna forced from her lungs: “I love you.”

Waverly grabbed her other hand. “I love you too, Wynonna.”

Wynonna smiled. That’s all she wanted to hear. That’s all she needed to hear, all her life.

Her head turned to the side. Her limbs, lifeless. The last of the air from her lungs, gone.

There was nothing left.

The burning was gone.

Wynonna Earp was gone.

She gave them everything she could, in the end.

She wished to give  _ more.  _

“There they are!”

Two bullets flew in the team’s direction. Nicole pulled Waverly back. Waverly cursed.

Grabbed Peacemaker.

Ran up the stairs.

-

More Reapers made themselves known. All the way to the first floor, they fought. A massacre, down the long halls, the bodies growing by the piles now. Anything that moved, was made to be paralyzed forever.

Lifeless as Wynonna Earp.

Waverly fought harder. When Peacemaker went out, she used the shotgun she took off one of these very assholes.

The team felt her rage, as one. Even Jeremy, who’d barely gotten to know Wynonna. Even Dolls, whose ultimate plan was to turn her in. She was a criminal, and she only brought suffering to those she abandoned. Turning her in would  _ help _ those he loved. Strange enough, he couldn’t  _ think _ about that right now. 

One of their own had fallen. Didn’t matter who was best friends or not.

Dolls actually felt  _ sad _ . Something changed in him. Something wanted her back. Her terrible pranks with Nicole. The way she messed with him—he’d miss that, too. Her strength to go on, despite all she had done wrong. To fight past mistakes was a strength Dolls haven't found yet. And her smile . . .

In the midst of a shootout, Dolls laughed. The criminal got to him, and she wasn’t even trying to. 

-

On the first level, about a dozen men were fighting to keep the creatures of the island outside, holding the door with all the weight they had as it pounded against them. A dead one, surrounded by dead Reapers, was slayed across the cabin floor. 

Another group foolishly waited for Bobo. There were a few trying to be loyal. Others were ready to leave—to hell with Bobo, this was their lives!

They all turned on the team the same. The creatures hadn’t attacked them, some of the Reapers from outside had witnessed it. Naturally they must’ve been magically controlling the beasts, right?

Gunfight broke out. Nicole and Waverly ducking behind the short counter of a bar. Doc and Dolls kicking over a bookshelf Jeremy was already trying to do himself. If Nicole’s best friend hadn’t died, she might’ve taken a moment to compliment Waverly’s shooting skills. Maybe later. Once this was done and she could think of something other than the fact Wynonna was dead.

A large swarm of the men took cover in the large cockpit. Harder to shoot. There was that chance of hitting something they needed to fly the heap of junk out of this place. If Bobo hadn’t killed Nicole’s ship, they could’ve easily taken it and left the Reapers behind to face the creatures. But, of course, that would be too easy.

The stragglers stuck out in the open were easy to deal with, with nothing to hide behind. No one could get a good shot on the men guarding the door before one of the many people hiding in the cockpit forced them back to cover.

The unfortunate truth: they were outnumbered.

Nicole and Dolls were signaling to each other. Trying to make plans. There had to be something. There was always something, they just had to figure out what that  _ something _ was.

Gunfire keeping them pinned down. Blind shots going nowhere.

Gunfire tearing into the wood bookshelf and the wood bar. They only had so long. 

Damn it, they were so close!

A flurry of laser fire burst from the hallway. Every single person guarding the door was downed, and instantly the island guardians trying to break in got their way. Running for the crowd holed up in a corner, like sitting ducks.

The team paid them no attention. They looked to the hallway.

They looked, to find Wynonna Earp, alive and the healthiest looking she’d ever been. A borrowed assault rifle in her hand, which she promptly tossed aside.

Nicole swore her heart was going to fall out of her chest. “This is the worst prank you’ve ever pulled,” she laughed.

Waverly ran right over, poking her sister all about. Making sure she was actually real. Inspecting her like she was trying to make sure there wasn’t a bomb on her back or something. “But how?”

Wynonna was different. Quiet. Simply, she put, “I saw some shit.”

Her sister motioned her along. Grabbing her hand, which Wynonna held in return. “What kind of shit?”

Wynonna looked to Doc, the same quiet, spooked expression on her face. “Henry was right. I saw  _ everything. _ Doc was actually right.”

The man laughed, “Well do not sound so surprised, now!”

“Whatever it was I saw, said the curse was two ways. Or, showed me, I guess. That stupid Constance chick said something about no one ever loving me would kill me, or something, when she was waving her magic wand around like an asshole.”

That job felt so long ago. 

Wynonna continued, after a short pause, “But that wasn’t all of it. It showed me love is double-sided. When you love someone, you have to love yourself, too. I had to find a reason to love myself, and stop being mad at myself for all the shit I’ve done. I guess hearing you all talk about the things we’ve done together, and how much you care about me  _ despite _ all the stupid shit I’ve done, fixed it. Deep down, I forgave myself.”

She wasn’t here before, but she was here now. She was here now, to fix what she had done. She intended to spend her dying days with her sister, before. There was room to forgive herself for mistakes past, here. 

“The curse is broken,” Waverly repeated. Her sister nodded.

“The curse is broken.”

Standing here, having a nice moment while people were getting mauled in the background. Earps did everything differently. As did Gibsons.

“I’m sorry the vault didn’t work out,” Waverly said.

From where they stood, the team could see it. Bobo’s final destination, final resting place, caving from the inside. Wynonna placed her arm around Waverly’s shoulder, pulling her in close. Looking at the team they formed. Remembering the things they all did, together.

“That’s okay, Waverly. I got something better.”

Nicole looked around the empty ship. The beasts of the island took all the men with them. “We got a decent ride out of it, too.”

Wynonna looked at her, perking up. “Please let me fly Bobo Del Rey’s ship.”

“The honor’s all yours.”

Giddy and laughing, Wynonna made her way to the pilot’s seat. Preparing to secure the tow cable still attached to Nicole’s dead ship. 

Dolls walked up behind her. His hands fiddling from beside his gun, like he didn’t know what to do with it. 

Like he was about to use it. Wynonna Earp’s bounty was still there. She watched him. He couldn’t take in Bobo, but he could still—

Dolls placed his hand on her shoulder. 

“Thanks for the save.”

It was all he said. He remembered how she stormed in and yelled at him over something as small as the internet, because Jeremy was upset. How she came back for Nicole. Everything she was trying to do for Waverly. She did right by his team. He needed to do the same. 

He would take the hit. A few more jobs and he could buy out his own contract, anyway. 

“I must be growing on you,” Wynonna said. 

Dolls smiled. “You must be.”

Wynonna turned in the pilot’s seat, facing the open ocean stretching for miles. “Let’s go home, team.”

They took off, the island vault below collapsing into nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to @dorianmcgrath for reading this over not once, but TWICE! What a lovely little olive eating bastard
> 
> Title taken from the level and track in the video game Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves. Used major influence for this one. 
> 
> Final chapter in a few days :)


	13. Payday

Purgatory, Earth.

Galaxy 1.

2:33 p.m., Earth MST.

MANY DAYS LATER.

There were drinks and music. The small apartment home of the Haught family, full of food and the smells of more food on the way.

Jeremy and Robin did it; they were going to get engaged. Bills be damned. They were going to get married in their backyard, if they had to. Nicole and Nedley stepped outside for a moment to talk business. The shop was still damaged, but there were some new developments. On the couch in the living room, in front of the kitchen, where Gus and Curtis bickered about salt usage, the Earp sisters were looking through old photo albums.

Wynonna’s thumb rubbed over a copy of an old x-ray. Quiet. Hadn’t coughed once all morning. Or since they got back.

“Wow, Haught was pretty messed up, huh?”

“Here’s the second one.”

“God, that’s freaky.”

“Oh! Here, I found the wedding!”

Wynonna yanked the book from Waverly’s hands.

The images almost brought her to tears. The fact she missed her sister in a wedding dress was the worst thing she’d done in her life. And she was a highly wanted criminal for doing many bad things. How she forgave herself for this was a mystery. There was Nicole, back when her hair was still short, in a lovely pantsuit of her own. The two, smiling as the sun in the background brightened the picture further.

“So that ID wasn’t fake, then?” Wynonna asked. “Waverly Haught?”

She nodded. “Waverly Haught.”

“You act like you’re on the line between Earp and Gibson or something.”

The humor didn’t reach Waverly. “You’re not mad, are you?”

Wynonna laughed at the question. “Of course I’m not mad, Waverly. I like it.”

Outside, the other Haught hugged her real father goodbye. He’d return for drinks later, after his shift. She reentered the house and prematurely poured herself a drink.

“I really miss being away from this legal crap,” Nicole said. “Kind of prefer being shot at, at this rate.” 

“Nedley say anything?” Waverly asked.

“They found the bomb. Now they just have to prove it was Bobo Del Rey and not one of my employees.”

Wynonna’s eyebrow quirked. “Need fake evidence? I’m your girl.”

“I’ll have to decline.” Nicole drank. “For now. What’re you two up to?”

“Wedding photos,” Waverly smiled. 

“And your gross x-rays,” Wynonna added. 

Nicole joined them, sitting close to Waverly without worrying about censoring herself. Censoring  _ them _ . Loving Waverly as loud as she could to the world was one of her favorite things in the universe. 

Wynonna made a sound. “Get a room. Where’s the killer island monsters when you need them?”

Nicole began laughing to herself. “God, can you imagine a wedding with the guys from Bobo’s crew attending?”

Wynonna laughed along. “The theme would end up being shotguns. Remember—”

Right on cue, the doorbell rang. Wynonna threatened Nicole; if Bobo was at the door right now, she was going to shoot Nicole in the foot.

Not Bobo Del Rey. Xavier Dolls,  _ smiling.  _ Wynonna made some sort of annoyed sound. Though she was terrible at fighting the small smile on her lips. Whether or not she missed him was her business and her business only. Whether or not she missed his annoyed face and irritating the life out of him was her own business. 

“I have good news, don’t worry,” he assured. Looking quite proud of himself. 

Doc stepped into the house from behind him. Right away, he looked at Wynonna. “Would you like to help me renovate the Earp homestead?”

“Nobody’s lived there for years, dude,” she said. “But if you want it, you can have it. We don’t care.”

In the background, Nicole laughed. “With what money?”

Doc gestured to Dolls, who smiled brighter as he revealed, “I went back to the island.”

The whole room fell silent.

“The money is gone. Destroyed by whatever explosives Bobo was trying to defend himself with. But,” he said quickly, before Wynonna could make a joke, “I did something else: I confirmed his death. As well as the death of his entire crew. I can thank Haught for letting me turn in his ship, as well. I also reported the first official sighting of the creatures we saw on the island.”

He motioned everyone over to the same spot in the living room. Gus and Curtis eavesdropping from the kitchen.

When everyone was settled, Dolls opened a small bag and dumped piles of cards onto the table in between them.

“In exchange for your help with Bobo Del Rey’s confirmed death, as well as the confirmed death of his entire crew,  _ and _ the discovery of a new species, Black Badge wanted to reward each and every one of you. These should be enough to settle your medical debts. The only one who doesn’t have formal payment is Wynonna. Instead, Black Badge has used their influence to completely forgive your bounty. Congratulations, Wynonna. You’re a free woman now.”

She was definitely not annoyed to see Dolls again.

Dolls was not annoyed to see her, either. In fact, he was thrilled. By the looks of it, Waverly and Nicole were happy having her around, as well. 

“But wait,” Jeremy began to ask him, “what did they give you? Did you get a pay out too?”

“With the money I made, plus the money I’ve saved, I was in a position to bargain. I paid off the debts I owed to Black Badge, for paying off my medical bills. I bought my contract. I will now be a freelance bounty hunter, but I’ll keep my Black Badge connections. They have agreed to pass along bigger contracts my way and pay extra for them. Same connections, less rules. I no longer have access to their weapons, but I can live with that.”

The room remained silent. They weren’t expecting Xavier Dolls to walk in like Santa Claus and dump a bunch of money in front of them.

He wasn’t expecting to clear a criminal’s bounty. Or even come to a place of admiration for her. Life was funny that way. 

She meant something to the people he loved. That’s all that mattered. 

“I can be nice, when I want to,” he said. “I also have a new ship. So I call dibs on the driver’s seat for the next adventure.”

Wynonna laughed at the thought of that. “Would we even  _ survive _ another adventure? Who’ll die next? Is there even another lost treasure out there for us to hunt down?”

The room looked at Waverly.

She smiled. 

“I may have been looking into the Clootie woman who cursed you.”

“No way,” Wynonna said. “Was that bitch rich?”

Waverly nodded. “That bitch was  _ rich _ . Her family has plenty of secrets of their own. Stretching all the way back to Wyatt II, curiously.”

Wynonna shrugged, looked around. “I’m down to fight her for money.”

Nicole shrugged, as well. “I really want to drive Dolls’s ship, when he isn’t looking.”

“I did promise Mister Dolls here I will try to make honest money, from now on,” Doc said. “I am a free man now, after all; my debts to the law paid.”

Attention on Jeremy. “Honeymoon money. Also, there’s all sorts of new tech I’ve been dreaming of buying and testing out.”

Dolls looked to Waverly. Excited, she grinned, “I already started a new notebook collection on this one. There’s somewhere here on Earth, out west, where we can start.”

Dolls smiled again. “Then that settles it. We have our next adventure. We are westward bound.”

Gus poked her head in. “ _ After _ dinner, please.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I pulled a lot of inspiration for this one. I studied a lot of the treasure hunter themed elements, because. Honestly, planning this one was difficult. But worth it. This story taught me a lot, and it helped me a lot with figuring out other projects I’ve been working on. Some things didn’t go as initially planned, but at the end of the day I’m happy with the end result. I do have a sequel in mind, but I don’t think I’ll be diving into that just yet. Not for a while. But the door is definitely open.
> 
> This project was an absolute blast to write, and I really hope that translated over to the text itself. You have all been incredibly kind and incredibly supportive, and I cannot thank you enough in words. The kudos, the comments, the act of even opening this story—those are all acts I cannot believe and will never stop being appreciative about. 
> 
> In summary: thank you.
> 
> If you’re so kind as to keep an eye on my upcoming projects, I’ll be taking a break in between stories. A month-long mini-vacation and some time to think about future works. Next time, I’ll be delving into something a little darker. More violent. Something about games… hunger… But not before a collaboration with my beta on something wonderful he pitched to me.
> 
> Most of all, a huge and biggest of thanks to @dorianmcgrath. No snark, no jokes. You truly are my brother, and you lent your invaluable time and effort to this story. I’ve never used a beta before, but I’m glad I did because you caught some stupid things and suggested some really great things. Thank you for your help in bringing this story to where it needed to be.
> 
> Once again, thank you for reading and thank you further for reading this essay of an author’s note. If you’d like, you can reach me on my [Tumblr](https://stinging-scorpion.tumblr.com/) or my [Twitter](https://twitter.com/RJAwritesathing) that I sometimes remember I have. In the meantime, stay safe, stay healthy, and stay Earpin’.
> 
> (If I don’t come back, it’s safe to assume The Last of Us Part II killed me)


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